The Guardian of Voyagers
by Alaskapigeon
Summary: What if the real world was populated by Pokemon? What if you could get a gym badge in San Francisco or New York? What would happen if an ordinary girl was taken on an extraordinary adventure? Rating may change as I get eviler. Muahaha.
1. Humble Beginnings

**Hey guys. Just to clear this up, the Alaska in this story IS NOT me. Originally, this whole thing was going to be quite different, and we were one and the same. Now, we just look similar and have the same hometown. Other than that, we're different people. Also, this first chapter is very boring, but you need it for background. The next one will rock your socks off. Promise.**

I tore through the wrapping paper like there was no tomorrow. Within seconds, I was covered in shreds of paper of every color and my Skitty, Kiley, had something to play with. My hands were shaking as I opened the plain cardboard box and looked at the small red and white ball inside. It was a small, insignificant looking thing, but it would change my life forever. I picked up the ball and grasped it firmly in my hand.

"Well, are you going to open it?" my mom asked me. She was smiling too, though there were tears in her eyes. She wasn't too happy about me going on my journey.

I didn't bother to answer, instead, I pressed the button in the middle of the Pokeball and dropped it to the floor. There was a flash of red light which quickly gained the shape of something familiar. The red light faded and before me sat a small brown and cream striped Pokemon. Its hazel eyes were hidden behind a black mask-like patch of fur. It sniffed the air with its tiny black nose and wagged its bushy tail. I grabbed it in my arms and hugged it. This wasn't just my first Pokemon, it was my ticket to adventure, to fame and fortune, to victory, and to a brand new life.

"It's a Zigzagoon," my mom stated obviously, "Do you like him?"

The tears streaming down my face were answer enough.

Both of my parents were smiling, but they seemed at a loss for words. Finally, I pushed a strand of dirty blonde hair out of my face and wiped my eyes.

"What are you going to name him?" my dad asked.

"I don't know...how about Bandit?"

The wiggling mass of fur in my arms barked in approval and licked my face with a tiny pink tongue. My parents laughed.

"Bandit, it is," my dad said, "Are you going to open my present?"

I nodded and set Bandit on the floor, much to the disgust of Kiley. She arched her pink back and hissed, though it didn't look very threatening coming from a Skitty. Bandit tried to sniff her, but she slapped him across the face with the end of her big pink tail, and trotted up the stairs to my room. I ripped through another package, with the help of Bandit this time, and found an array of trainer necessities. I saw several purple potion bottles, orange antidotes, yellow parlyz heals, blue awakenings, and green burn heals. In the middle of all the medicine, I saw five more red and white balls, though I knew these were empty. I grabbed all of the goods and stuffed them in the brown messenger bag I had along side me. I started to get up, but my mom handed me an envelope with a Pokeball-shaped seal.

"What's this?" I asked curiously.

"It's from your grandma," my mom answered.

I carefully slid my finger inside the envelope so that I could open it without ripping it. I looked inside, and out fell five $100 dollar bills. I carefully slid them into my pocket.

"You'll have to tell her thank you for me," I said. I sighed as I got up again and headed for the door. I hugged both of my parents, and my mom started to cry. "Don't cry," I said, "I'll be fine. Somebody's got to take care of Kiley. She's too snooty for battling."

That made my parents smile, but my mom still said, "Be careful," before breaking down into more tears. I picked up Bandit in my arms, and ran out the door. Better get out before they decided I should stay home another year. I ran down the road a little ways before I realized something: Unless I could catch a flying Pokemon, I would have to walk all the way to San Francisco. California was a big place, and that was nothing compared to the rest of the United States. I set Bandit down on the sidewalk.

"Come on, buddy," I said, "It's going to be a long walk." Bandit looked up at me curiously and nuzzled the leg of my jeans. I patted him on the head and adjusted my black t-shirt. I guess I should've been sad about leaving Stockton. I had lived there for all fourteen years of my life, and yet...It had never felt like home.

As I walked, I looked at all the houses and stores I had grown up around. I might never see them again. Luckily, I didn't live that far into the city and within ten minutes, I was out of the suburbs and into farmland. I walked past rows of grapevines and corn stalks for what seemed like hours. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my sneakers crunching gravel, and an occasional car passing me by. I looked up at a road sign as I passed. It read "Sacramento: 45 miles north. San Francisco: 83 miles west." I had heard before that pioneers had been able to go twenty miles in a day, but I had only gone about five, and the sun was already starting to set. I was barely outside of Stockton's city limits, and I was already exhausted. I sighed and found my way to a Motel 6. I shelled out thirty bucks for a room and led Bandit up the steps after we realized the elevator was broken down. I decided to take stock of my belongings.

I had 1 brown messenger bag, 4 potions, 2 antidotes, 2 parlyz heals, 2 burn heals, 2 awakenings, 5 Pokeballs, 1 map, $3470 in cash, 1 change of clothes, and 1 trainer's card. It was reassuring to see that I had everything I would need. I laid down on a moldy looking bed. I couldn't see much of the room, because the lights and TV weren't working. Still, I couldn't help feeling as though things were getting better. Bandit jumped up on the bed, and pushed his cold nose to my ear. I giggled and he ran in circles on the sheets for a few moments before laying down to sleep. That was when I discovered that Bandit snored. It was going to be a long journey.

In the middle of the night, I got up to use the bathroom. When I was coming back from the toilet, I caught my reflection in the mirror. The only light was from the street light outside, and I could barely see anything. Still, I noticed my eyes had change color. No longer were they the same bright blue eyes that I had always seen, they were a deep, intense looking gray. I took a minute to look at the rest of my reflection. I had long, light brown hair that fell to right above my waist, a pair of shorts and a black t-shirt (Because I was too much of a dumb ass to remember to bring pajamas), white socks, and a trainer card sticking out of my pocket, reminding me that I was now fourteen and old enough to venture out into the world. I went back to bed and contemplated my change in eye color until I was almost back asleep. I took out my trainer card and looked at it. It was light green and had a picture of me. It said, Name: Alaska Parrill, Age: 14, Pokemon: Zigzagoon, Male. I had scribbled that last part in a few hours ago. My stomach grumbled. The granola bar I ate in place of dinner obviously hadn't satisfied my stomach. Right then, I had no idea that pretty soon, I would have to worry about something much worse than not having enough to eat. Pretty soon, everything would change.


	2. Hero or Villain?

**Hey guys. Guess what? I think I'm actually going to stick with this story. By the way, if you want to use my characters in spin off stories or something of that sort, go ahead. Just make sure you give me credit for my characters and Shadow Humans (Which you can also use). Believe me, if one of you can come up with a really good Dark Hermes story, you'll be my best friend, and you'll get a shout out. Don't know who Hermes is? You'll find out. Muahahaha.**

I awoke in the morning feeling briefly confused. Why was I in a dirty motel room with a bundle of brown fur dancing on top of me? Then I remembered the previous days events. I stretched and put on a clean pair of clothes. Today I was wearing a pair of jeans and a black band t-shirt. I slipped on a pair of scuffed up sneakers, grabbed my bag, and whistled for Bandit, my Zigzagoon, to follow me out of the room. Once outside the Motel 6, I realized that it was going to be a very warm day. It was only 7:30 in the morning and the sun was already burning away the damp mist that seemed to cover the Californian farmland every night after everyone went to sleep. I stretched and began walking west along the road like I had the day before. The only difference was today I had my thumb out. A trainer was traditionally supposed to walk the first day of their journey, but after that, they could get around however they wanted which included hitchhiking. Bandit happily nipped at my heels as we walked. Occasionally, he would wander a few feet off the road into a grove of trees to sniff the scent trails of other Pokemon. After a few hours of walking, a beat up blue Ford pickup pulled over. The man in the driver seat leaned over and rolled down the window.

"Need a ride?" he asked.

I couldn't see much of what he looked like, but I assumed he wasn't a serial killer. "Yeah," I answered his question. Suddenly, I heard a car door open and bang closed and I realized the man must have gotten out of the car. Great, I thought, I'm going to be murdered less than ten miles into my journey.

"If you want a ride," the man called from the other side of the truck, "You'll have to earn it."

"This just keeps getting better," I muttered to myself. To my great relief, when the man got around his truck, I realized he wasn't a man. He was a boy only a few years older than me. Still, he could possibly be a crazed ax murderer. I whistled to Bandit, but my hopes of him turning into an attack Pokemon disappeared when he ran forward and began licking the kid's shoes. I looked up and said, "What exactly do you have in mind?"

He smirked and tossed his head, trying and failing to get his shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes. Immediately, I noticed he was wearing black sunglasses, a good way to avoid being recognized after committing a crime. _That was an odd thought_, I reprimanded myself. I realized I was being paranoid, which was...strange. Usually I was pretty cool, calm, and collected. Yet somehow I felt uneasy around this stranger. Somewhere deep inside of myself, I already realized something was wrong. "I was hoping for a Pokemon battle," the kid said.

I sighed and visibly relaxed. The kid raised an eyebrow. "Sure thing," I said, "If I can get my Zigzagoon to stop licking your shoes."

The kid smiled and said, "If we're going to battle, I'd like to know your name."

"My name's Alaska. What's yours?"

He smiled again. "I never agreed to tell you."

"No fair," I complained.

"Fine," he said, "I'll tell you if you beat me. One versus one?"

I nodded. The mystery trainer reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a Pokeball. He pushed the button in the middle of the ball, causing it to grow from the size of a grape to the size of an orange. He threw the ball to the ground and said, "Go, Hades." From the ball came a small black Pokemon the size and shape of a small Scottish terrier. It glared at me with deep amber eyes and growled.

"Come here, Bandit," I called. My fuzzy ball of brown and cream fur ran over to me and started barking excitedly. The Poochyena growled again and Bandit started whimpering. He shrunk down and looked fairly weaker than he had a moment before. I had a brief stand off with the mystery trainer before saying, "Bandit, Tackle!"

"Poochyena, Howl!"

The Poochyena took a deep breath and stared at the sky before letting out a long, mournful Howl. Its muscles tensed and I sensed that it had grown more powerful. Meanwhile, my Zigzagoon was tripping over its own feet as it ran forward. Finally, it collided with the Poochyena, knocking it to the ground.

"Get back up and use Tackle, Hades," the kid called. I noticed he was also wearing a black t-shirt, though his had an Atari logo on it rather than a band name.

"Dodge it and use Tail Whip," I responded. The black lap dog Pokemon ran towards Bandit and knocked him over before he could dodge. In response, Bandit whipped the Poochyena furiously with his tail. Suddenly, Hades didn't seem so tough anymore.

Both Pokemon seemed equally worn out and I got the feeling that the battle would be over soon. "Tackle!" Both the mystery trainer and I called at the same time.

Both Pokemon ran forward and collided with each other halfway across the battlefield. We waited for several seconds, but neither of them got up. The mystery trainer smiled and declared, "It's a draw." He silently withdrew his Poochyena into its Pokeball.

I pulled one of the potions out of my pack and sprayed Bandit with it. He began to stir and unsteadily got to his feet. I picked him up in my arms, which caused him to lick my face incessantly, before asking, "So are you going to tell me your name?"

The kid smiled and said, "My name isn't important, but you can call me Hermes."

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Into mythology much?"

Hermes smiled. "Wait until you meet the rest of my team." Without another word, he climbed into the cab of his truck and motioned for me to follow. I sighed and nervously climbed into the passenger seat. I slammed the door closed.

"Where are the rest of your Pokemon?" I asked.

"I don't let them out when I'm driving," he answered, "There's not enough room in the truck."

"That makes sense. Do you let them out when your walking?"

"Of course," he said, "It's good for them."

I winced as the blue pick up roared to life. That's not an exaggeration. It roared like a Persian. Once my hearing returned, I realized that I was in for a bumpy ride. Hermes was the worst driver I had ever seen in my life. Once or twice, he swerved into oncoming traffic. Bandit cowered in my lap for the first hour and a half. After that, he finally got the courage to watch the landscape flying by outside of the window as we drove down the highway at 80 mph. The miles of farmland were quickly turning into rolling hills which in turn gave birth to groves of forest. I understood why you were supposed to walk the first day of your journey. It gave you an appreciation for the effort it took to follow your dreams all the way across the United States and then back to Washington DC. It would have taken me four or more days to walk to San Francisco. In Hermes truck, it took three hours.

I had been to San Francisco before, but this time it seemed different...more exciting maybe. Even the damp fog that hung over the city couldn't dim my spirits. Out of the mist rose buildings, though that word doesn't do them justice. They seemed more like towering sentinels rising above the city. Thousands of people and Pokemon swarmed through the streets causing traffic to be at almost a stand still.

"I'll find a parking garage to dump my car at for a few days," Hermes said. He seemed nervous about something, but I couldn't figure out what.

"You're staying in the city that long?" I asked.

"Well," he said, "I have some business to take care of, but I was hoping to stay with you most of the time."

"Really?" I was surprised. I barely knew him.

"I know we don't know each other that well," he began, "But I'm on my own journey. I'm less of a battler and more of a coordinator. I've been meaning to enter the US Contest Championships for a long time and I was hoping to find someone to travel with."

"Well I'd love to travel with you," I said probably a little too quickly. I was excited to have a traveling partner, even if he was somewhat weird. "Where are the four contest halls?"

"The normal contest hall is in Las Vegas, the super contest hall is in Houston, the hyper contest hall is in Boston, and the master contest hall is in Portland."

"That's good," I told him, "Those are all near gym towns."

"That's why I was looking for a trainer to go with," Hermes answered, "We could travel together without being rivals."

The car jolted to a stop and I looked around to see that we were in a dark parking garage. The floor we were on was mostly deserted except for a black Mercedes across the garage. A couple men in black suits were standing next to the car, whispering rapidly and occasionally looking at us. I hopped out of the car with Bandit and Hermes followed close behind.

"Are those guys looking at us?" I asked him under my breath.

"Of course not," he said, but just the same, he reached into his pocket and pulled out six Pokeballs. He dropped the Pokeballs to the floor where they opened and bounced back into his hand. Six Pokemon appeared where Hermes had dropped the Pokeballs. I recognized Hades, but the rest of the Pokemon were new to me. Aside from the tiny black Poochyena, the rest of Hermes' Pokemon looked extremely powerful. He had a Salamence, an Aggron, a Charizard, a Feraligatr, and a Torterra. All of his Pokemon had violet eyes other than his Poochyena.

"What's up with their eyes?" I asked.

Hermes shrugged casually, though I saw surprise flash across his face. "They have contacts."

I looked at him in disbelief, one eyebrow raised.

"What? I think they look cool. I haven't had the time to buy 'em for Hades yet." I had never been good at spotting lies, but this one was obvious.

By this time, the men in the black suits were aggressively walking towards us. Hermes snapped his fingers and his Pokemon moved into a defensive position around us. Hades and Bandit didn't join in, instead staying in the middle. The men in black suits were getting closer and I could now see details about their outfits. They were completely black and seemed to be made out of a skin tight fabric. They were wearing black pants and their shirts were black with long sleeves. On the shirt was a strange logo that looked like a moon eclipsing a sun. They wore black leather boots and their shirts seemed to have a hood built in. The hoods were pulled forward to cover their faces. Their hands were at their sides and I realized this meant they were concealing weapons. Wait, how did I know that? I turned around to see Hermes' hand was at his side as well, though he had a smile on his face.

"How are you two doing? I haven't seen you in a while."

The men ignored his greeting and the one on the left said, "Cut the crap, Hermes. You're coming back with us right now."

The man reached for his pocket, but Hermes was faster. Before I could blink, he had pulled a small black handgun out of his pocket. BANG! BANG! Two bullet holes appeared in the chests of the black-suited men, but they kept walking. They hadn't even flinched in pain. Now they both had guns out. Hermes dropped his gun to the ground and put his hands in the air.

"No need to get violent, boys." Hermes' smile turned grim.

"Too late for that," the one on the right said. "We'll get to you later, but first, we should take care of your friend. You know these shields don't work, Hermes. They aren't powerful enough to stop us." He turned the gun on me. Now I had my hands in the air. I was a pretty calm person, but I was on the verge of screaming, when Hermes let out a long, low whistle. Suddenly, his Pokemon went nuts. I heard one of the guns go off and I hit the ground. Hermes' Charizard roared in pain and then I heard screaming. After that, there was silence. I got up off the ground and looked to see who was still standing. Body parts were scattered all over the ground. The floor was slippery with blood. In the middle of the mess, sat Hermes' Pokemon, though I didn't see Hades or Bandit with them. Then it hit me.

"Bandit?" I called on the verge of tears.

I heard whining and felt a cold nose being pushed into my side. I sighed in relief. Now the only ones missing were Hermes and Hades. I felt a hand grab me around my neck and screamed.

"Shut up," Hermes whispered urgently. He picked me up carefully and set me on my feet. "I was just trying to make sure you weren't shot. I think the only ones who were hit were Ares and Zeus."

"Who?" I asked.

"My Charizard and Aggron," he explained.

"They aren't hurt are they?"

"They're fine. The bullets didn't hurt Zeus at all and Ares took the shot in his tail. They'll be okay." I noticed Ares was chewing at his tail as if trying to remove something. I looked away and finally got a glimpse of Hermes. He was examining what was left of the corpses. There was a strange look on his face. Desire or longing...maybe pain. I didn't get it. He found the torsos of the men and looted their Pokeballs. They each had one.

"Here," he said and tossed me both of them.

I held them gingerly, trying to touch the blood-stained Pokeballs as little as possible. "I don't want these," I whined, "They belong to dead people."

"If you don't want them, leave them here to rot. I don't have room for them on my team." Hermes shrugged. "Either way, we should probably get the hell out of here."

"Um, excuse me," I said, "But I have no idea who the hell you are, other than that somebody is looking for you. Somebody dangerous. I'm just going to walk away and pretend I never met you." I started to back away, but he grabbed my shoulder tightly and started pulling me towards the elevator at the other end of the garage. I looked down and saw the decapitated head of one of the black-suited men. The hood was pulled back and I could see that it had bright violet eyes.

"Sorry," he said to me, "But if I leave you on your own, you'll be killed."

"Can we at least take your car?" I asked when I realized I couldn't get away.

"Apparently, it's being tracked." He seemed to remember his Pokemon standing behind us and called all of them back except for Hades. "They're too conspicuous," he explained.

I rubbed my fingers against the Pokeballs in my pocket. "Should I check to see what their Pokemon are?" I asked.

"A Mantyke and a Bellsprout," he answered.

My mouth fell open. "How did you know that?" I asked as he pressed the down button on the elevator.

"I've known those guys for a while. They were never any good at raising Pokemon, so their Pokemon never evolved."

Ding. The elevator doors opened up. Hermes dragged me inside and Hades and Bandit followed us. The elevator seemed to be going exceptionally slow and I felt awkward.

"So, er...Do your Pokemon kill people often?"

"Occasionally," he answered with no emotion on his face.

"And you name them all after Greek gods, why?"

He shrugged. "Their names are personal."

The doors opened again with a ding and Hermes pulled me out into a crowded street.

"Look natural," he told me, "We have to go buy some new clothes."

"How can I act natural?" I shrieked. "There are two dead people up there," I said pointing to the top of the parking garage.

"Don't attract attention to yourself," he muttered angrily. I looked up to see a black helicopter flying over head and immediately felt paranoid.

Hermes pulled me through the throngs of people and into a mall. I had been to this mall once or twice before, but I didn't really know my way around.

"Follow me," he said and lead me into a fancy looking store. "Go pick out an outfit quickly, then meet me at the counter." He took off towards the men's department leaving me with my mouth hanging open. I heard whining by my feet and bent down to stroke Bandit. He nudged me with his wet, black nose and took off towards a rack of t-shirts. I picked out a black sweater and some nice jeans and headed towards the counter. Hermes was already there with a black dress shirt and black pants.

"What took you so long?" he whispered as he swiped a black credit card.

"That took me less than three minutes," I whispered back furiously.

"You'll have to get faster than that." He smiled winningly at the female clerk who swooned and handed him the bag with our purchases. He grabbed my shoulder and dragged me out of the mall through a different exit and into a parking lot. "Pick a car," he said.

"You're joking." He looked at me expectantly and I sighed. "How about the Volkswagen Bug?"

"A Bug? Really? Out of every car in the lot..." Without another word he pulled a lock picking device from his pocket and shoved it into the lock of the sea green Bug. The lock popped open and he shoved me through the driver's door into the passenger seat. He threw Bandit and Hades in after me, then knelt on the floor and stuck his hands under the dashboard. Within a minute, I heard the car start. He climbed into the driver's seat, closed the door, and drove wildly out of the parking lot. "That was easy," he said as he narrowly avoided colliding with a black mini van. The other driver honked angrily.

"Are you for real?" I asked as Bandit whined in my arms. He sounded confused. So was I.

Instead of responding to my question, Hermes said, "Take your clothes off."

"What!"

He shoved the bag of clothes at me and said, "Put on your new outfit."

"I don't want to get undressed-"

"You won't be naked," he said and nearly had a head-on collision with a semi truck in the other lane, "You have to be in your new clothes by the time we get to the Travelodge in approximately..." He looked at his watch. "...Three and a half minutes."

I was about to question his sanity, before I realized it wouldn't do any good and pulled off my shirt. I put on the sweater as quickly as I could. Then I replaced my old jeans with the new ones and shoved my old pair of clothes into the bag. I looked over and saw Hermes was already in his new outfit.

"How did you get dressed that quickly?" I asked stunned.

He shrugged. "You get used to it."

I sat shell shocked in the passenger seat until exactly three and a half minutes later when we came to a jarring halt in the Travelodge parking lot. It was almost empty and I looked around nervously for another black Mercedes, but I didn't see one. Hermes pulled me out of the car and into the motel lobby. Bandit and Hades must have followed us, though I didn't notice them.

"I have a room under Jack Turner," he told the receptionist.

"One moment please," she said and typed something into her computer rapidly. "Here you go," she said and handed him a room key. I followed Hermes up the stairs and into a room with two twin beds before he said, "I have some explaining to do."

"Damn right," I said and Bandit punctuated my answer with a growl.

"Okay." He sighed and looked intensely depressed for a moment. He got up and went to the window where he shut the blinds. He quickly walked around the room and started throwing open drawers and closets.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Looking for bugs," he responded. When he finished trashing the room, he sat down on the end of one bed and said happily, "No bugs." I glared at him and he sighed again. "Instead of trying to tell you everything, why don't you just ask a question."

My thoughts were racing a mile a minute and I couldn't decide what to ask first, so I settled on, "Why are you wearing your sun glasses inside in a dark motel room?"

He smiled and said, "I'm not willing to answer that question directly."

I scowled and said, "Fine. Then here's my next one: Who in the hell is chasing us?"

His face darkened and he said, "This is going to be a long answer, so get comfortable." He kicked off his sneakers and stretched back. "In fact, why don't you let your Pokemon out and I'll do the same."

I almost asked "What Pokemon?" when I remembered the ones I had gotten in the parking garage. I reached into my pocket and pulled the tiny red and white balls out. I took one in each hand and pressed the buttons in the middle before throwing them to the floor. In a flash of red light, a strange weed-like creature and a manta ray popped out. Both looked at me quizzically and I noticed they had violet eyes that were the same color as Hermes' Pokemon's and the dead black-suited men's. Across the room, Hermes let his Pokemon out, though I didn't see Zeus, his Aggron.

"Where's Zeus?" I asked.

Hermes smiled again. "One question at a time." He pretended like he wouldn't answer me for a second before saying, "If I let him out he would fall through the floor. He's too heavy. Besides, the room is crowded enough." That was certainly true. Except for Hades, all of his Pokemon were very large. Hermes stretched back and said, "Now I guess I should tell you my story." His eyes seemed to glaze over with the past and he said, "You may have heard of Team Rocket, Team Aqua, or Team Magma. They were all disbanded about twenty years ago and none of them ever achieved their missions of destruction. Since then, there have been many Teams that have arose from their ashes and then fallen again. One of these teams was Team Shadow. You may have heard of Shadow Pokemon. They were the inspiration for Team Shadow, though what Team Shadow did was much worse."

I opened my mouth to ask a question, but Hermes held a finger up to his lips before continuing.

"When I was young and stupid, I joined Team Shadow. I didn't know what they were really up to. I just wanted to belong to something. Something bigger than my self." He laughed. "I got my wish. You may be familiar with the creation of Shadow Pokemon. They are Pokemon whose hearts have been artificially closed. Not their actual hearts in their chests, but the section of the brain that controls the emotions we normally associate with the heart: Love, mercy, etcetera. The procedure is complicated, but it's not that different than a lobotomy. Anyway, the procedure made the Pokemon stronger, though it also made them harder to control and they had a more limited move range. Team Shadow decided the pros outweighed the cons and started manufacturing Shadow Pokemon. They stole their first Shadow Pokemon from the ruins of Team Cipher's labs, but after a while they learned to create their own. Eventually, the boss of Team Shadow decided to do something risky. He decided to create Shadow Humans. No one had any idea what would happen, and even the mad scientists that worked for Team Cipher were too afraid to try it out. However, Team Cipher's boss was ruthless. He recruited a batch of kids off the street to experiment on. They didn't know what would happen to them. They thought they signed up for a benign medical experiment. Just another way to earn money for their drugs. If they knew what would happen to them, they never would have done it. Not for a million dollars." He paused to take a breath. "Are you still with me?"

I nodded.

"Good. Anyway, the procedure didn't work the same on humans as it did on Pokemon. It did make people more powerful and harder to kill and it also made them harder control. Shadow Humans had the same violet eyes that Shadow Pokemon had, and for a while, it was believed that they were the same. However, after a few weeks, Team Shadow began noticing that their human test subjects weren't reacting the way they thought. Specifically, they couldn't eat. No matter what food they tried, the Shadow Humans would vomit it up after a few hours. Several of their test subjects died of starvation. Eventually, some of the remaining Shadow Humans went crazy with hunger and killed one of the scientists examining them. Do you know what they did next?"

"What?" I asked with wide eyes. Even the Pokemon were listening carefully, though Hermes' Pokemon probably knew the story.

"They ate it. An hour passed, then another, then another. They didn't vomit it back up. It turns out that Shadow Humans can't survive on the flesh of animals. They can only survive on the flesh of other humans and Pokemon."

I felt bile rising in my throat. "So how did they feed them?" I asked, though I didn't really want to know.

"They started taking people off the streets. Mostly people they knew no one would miss. Homeless people and stuff like that. It all worked fine for a while. Team Shadow had their super soldiers, no one 'important' was getting hurt, everything was peachy. Then, there was a breakout. About ten Shadow Humans escaped."

I stared at him in horror. "What happened?"

"Well, for a while, the Shadow Humans were able to keep their hunger in check, but when they went into Hyper Mode...Well, random murders started happening. You might remember an outbreak of murders five years ago. The bodies were all mutilated and they thought one guy was doing it." I did. "That was the Shadow Humans. Team Shadow realized they had to hunt down and kill the ten escaped Shadow Humans. They managed to kill nine, but there's still one on the loose."

I leaned in close. "Where is he?"

Hermes face grew intense and he sighed. "I didn't want to move this fast, but...He's right here." He removed his glasses and looked at me with shockingly bright violet eyes. They seemed far brighter than his Pokemon's or the dark-suited men's. I gasped and backed towards the door. Before I could even take two steps back, Hermes whistled and his Feraligatr blocked the door. Hermes eyes grew desperate. "You can't run away," he said, "They'll find you." He tried to grab my arm, but I recoiled in horror. Bandit stood by my feet and growled. My new Bellsprout and Mantyke came over to me and tried to look threatening as well. It would have been touching had I not been terrified out of my mind.

"Whose to say being caught by them isn't better than being caught by you?"

"Because..." Hermes seemed to hesitate. "They'll change you into a Shadow Human."

"Why? I haven't done anything wrong!" I nearly shouted.

"Well, first of all, you know too much at this point."

"And whose fault is that?" I countered.

He ignored me and continued, "Secondly, you're special."

That made me pause. "Special, how exactly?"

"You can see our eyes."

"Why does that make me special?" I asked.

"Most people can't. Most people think we have normal colored eyes when they look at us, or they can't look us directly in the eyes at all. In fact, er...it's rather embarrassing to admit, but when I picked you up, I was planning on killing and eating you."

I stared before saying, "What in the f-"

Hermes quickly cut me off, "But, I noticed I was being tracked so I decided to drive you to San Francisco like I told you I would. I thought I could find a safe place to hide out there. I tried to lose the guys tailing me in that parking garage and when I sent my Pokemon out, you asked why their eyes were violet. That's when I knew."

I paused and tried to think of a question to ask. One horrifying one stuck out in my mind. "How often do you eat people?"

He looked ashamed. "I try not to. I only picked you up, because I need to eat right now. The urge to feed was, and is, incredibly strong, and I didn't see any nearby Pokemon. Aside from that, humans are more satisfying than Pokemon. I couldn't help it. Usually, I have my Pokemon bring me back a Pidgey or some other common wild Pokemon. That's how I got Hades. I decided not to eat him when I realized he could see our eyes too."

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"Apollo told me."

"Who?"

"Oh. My Salamence. He can talk to me through a mind link. He mentioned that my dinner was yelling about odd violet-eyed Pokemon, so I didn't eat him."

I looked at the door where the Feraligatr was still standing. Then I looked to the window. "What's to keep me from jumping through that window right now?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Nothing, other than that a fall from two stories won't kill you and I'll just send Ares to pick you up. We wouldn't be able to take you to a hospital, so I'd have to try and fix any broken bones myself, which would be very, very painful for you. Also, your Pokemon might follow you."

I looked down at Bandit who was wagging his tail as though the idea of jumping out of the window was the best he had ever heard. I sighed. "So what now?"

Hermes face brightened. "I was hoping you would ask that. I decided that the best thing to do was allow you to get your eight badges while we travel around the country. That way we could keep moving and if anyone got curious of where we were going, we could use the excuse that you're a trainer. In fact, I was hoping you could tackle the gym today."

"I'm pretty tired today, actually," I said.

"Well, we're leaving tomorrow, and since I'm not eating you, I better send one of my Pokemon out to catch me a Magikarp or something. I need to eat. I figure you don't want to be around to see that, so you might as well go challenge the gym."

"What if Team Shadow comes after me?" I asked.

Hermes shrugged. "Take Apollo with you. Don't try to use him in the gym battle, though. He won't listen to you unless it's an emergency."

I looked at the red and blue dragon Pokemon and shrugged. I started walking for the door.

"One more thing," Hermes called from behind me, "If you try to leave this city, I'll have ways of knowing and I'll just tell Apollo to bring you back. Or if I can't reach him, I'll send Ares." The orange dragon stared at me menacingly.

I left the motel as quickly as I could and threw up in the parking lot. All four Pokemon that were with me stared at me strangely.

"What?" I asked them. "You try hearing all that in under an hour and see how you take it."

Obviously, they didn't respond so I started walking. I knew the gym was on a pier next to the ocean, but I wasn't sure where it actually was, so I decided to see if I could find a map of the city. I found a convenience store and bought one. Looking at the map, I groaned.

"The gym is all the way across town. Is there anyway you could fly me there?" I asked Apollo.

In response, Apollo opened his mouth wide, revealing hundreds of sharp white teeth. He then hissed at me, filling my nose with the scent of rotting flesh.

"Lovely. I'll take that as a no."

The walk to the gym wasn't that bad, honestly. It was just tiring. I had to struggle through huge crowds of people and Pokemon uphill and downhill for what seemed like miles. Eventually, I followed the map to a building that appeared to be a giant fish tank. It was completely made of glass and I could see water Pokemon swimming back and forth. I saw a gym sign near the entrance. I read it aloud.

"San Francisco Pokemon Gym. Leader: Wesley, the Water-type master. Feel the power of the waves." I looked at my Pokemon. "Okay. This will be Bandit's second battle, and your first battles with me," I said to the Bellsprout and Mantyke, "Wait. Do you guys have names?" The Bellsprout and Mantyke shook their heads. "Who's too lazy to name their Pokemon? Okay, I'll start with Bellsprout." I studied the grass Pokemon. It had a yellow, bell-shaped head and long arms and legs. It was basically a walking daffodil. "Hmm...how about Daffodil?" I asked it. The Bellsprout nodded excitedly. I looked to the Mantyke. It looked like a manta ray or some other sea creature, and it was a deep blue color. "I'll name you Bluebelle. Are you boys or girls?" Both Pokemon shrugged and tried to pantomime answers. Apollo sighed and then I heard a voice in my head. It was very deep and sounded ancient.

They are both females said the voice.

"Who was that?" I looked around and spotted Apollo. "Did you just talk to me?"

Apollo rolled his eyes. Maybe. Do you see another Salamence capable of Psychic powers around here?

I closed my eyes for a moment and said, "My life has gotten very weird in a very short time. I will never hitchhike again." I opened my eyes and sighed. "Let's go."

The inside of the gym seemed much like the outside. The walls were made of glass and seemed to be thick and filled with water. Water Pokemon of all shapes and sizes swam around inside them.

"Hello? Is anybody home?" The whole building seemed deserted. Then I heard a buzzing mechanical noise. I turned around and saw someone standing on a platform that was rising out of the floor.

"Wesley is in the house!" Suddenly bright multicolored lights started flashing and loud music started playing. The man who had been on the platform stepped out of the shadows so I could see him better. He was wearing a blue satin shirt and tight black leather pants. He pulled a comb out of his pocket and used it to straighten his bleached blonde hair. He put the comb back in his pocket and looked at me. "Are you my challenger?"

For a moment I was speechless, but then I said, "I think so. Are you Wesley?"

The man nodded and snapped his fingers. Loud disco music started playing. "I am called Wesley. If you are my challenger, do you agree to a three versus three match?"

"Sure," I agreed, "Three versus three sounds fine. Any special rules?"

"No. Are you ready?" Wesley asked me.

"Um...okay."

"Then let's get this party started!" The multicolored lights stopped flashing and focused on Wesley. The water in the walls/fish tanks glowed different shades of blue and green. "Go, Tentacool!" Wesley pulled a blue Pokeball out of his pocket and threw it to the floor. In a flash of red light, an octopus-like Pokemon appeared. It had six black tentacles coming out of a blue squishy head with red spots on it.

"I'll use Bandit," I shouted. My Zigzagoon stepped forward and growled.

"Use Wrap, Tentacool!"

"Dodge and use Headbutt!"

The octopus-like Pokemon's tentacles stretched out from its body and tried to wrap around Bandit. Bandit jumped over them and ran at the Tentacool. Right before he hit it, he lowered his head and struck it hard. The Tentacool flew through the air and hit a wall.

"What powerful Pokemon you have," Wesley said, "But I can do you one better. Tentacool, use Surf!"

Suddenly, water started rising through the floor and for a moment, I thought one of the fish tanks had sprung a leak. Then the water gathered on the other side of the room and formed a large wave.

"Uh oh," I said before the seething wave came down on top of Bandit. The noise of the wave was incredible and when it sunk back down through the floor again, I thought Bandit was knocked out. Then, slowly, he got to his feet. "Yeah, Bandit!" I cheered. "Now use Tail Whip!" Bandit ran forward and hit the octopus Pokemon in the face with his bushy brown tail. "Follow that up with another Headbutt!" Bandit ran towards me, then turned around and ran back towards the Tentacool, preparing for another Headbutt.

"Hit it with Poison Sting when it gets close," Wesley yelled.

As Bandit was just about to strike the Tentacool, the Tentacool fired a tiny stinger from one of its tentacles. The stinger struck Bandit in the forehead right as he knocked the Tentacool into the wall. The Tentacool was knocked out and for a moment Bandit barked happily. Then he whined in confusion. Suddenly, he started howling in pain and twitching on the ground. I sighed and called him back into his Pokeball for the first time since I had gotten him.

"You're up next, Daffodil," I said to my Bellsprout. She nodded happily and made a tinkling sound by shaking her head up and down.

"Then I'll send out Luvdisc!" Wesley shouted. He reached into his pocket and threw another blue Pokeball. From this one came a tiny pink fish Pokemon. It seemed to be vaguely heart-shaped.

"Use Vine Whip, Daffodil!"

"Water Pulse, Luvdisc!"!

One of Daffodil's vine-like arms shot forward and started to strangle the Luvdisc. The Luvdisc's mouth fell open and a jet of water shot out at Daffodil. A wave of sound passed through the water, causing Daffodil to flinch. Her arms sucked back to her side.

"Use Growth, Daffodil!"

"Sweet Kiss, Luvdisc!"

Daffodil started to glow with a green light, and she started to grow bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Meanwhile, Luvdisc darted through the air and lightly kissed Daffodil on the side of her bell-shaped head. Daffodil made a wind chime-like sound in confusion. She stopped growing.

"Now use Water Gun!"

"Use Vine Whip again!"

Luvdisc opened its mouth and a stream of water roared forth, hitting Daffodil head on. Daffodil let out a quiet moan and tried to use Vine Whip. As her arms shot forward, they grew tangled together, but she managed to wrap them around the Luvdisc and squeeze until it fainted. Wesley withdrew his Luvdisc with a scowl on his face. Daffodil's arms shot back to her side.

"You've done well so far," Wesley said, "But I have one last Pokemon. One I think even you will find a hard time defeating. Beware, you may faint in shock." My heart pounded as he reached into his pocket for the last blue Pokeball. What kind of Pokemon could be inside? Was it a Gyarados? A Kingdra? He pressed the button in the center of the ball and dropped it to the ground. In a flash of red light, I saw...a Magikarp? The orange fish bounced around on the floor obliviously.

"Your last Pokemon is a Magikarp?" I asked in a tone that betrayed my disbelief.

"Yes. Why is that so surprising?" Wesley must have been just as oblivious as his Magikarp.

I face-palmed. "Use Vine Whip, Daffodil!"

"Splash, Magikarp!"

The Magikarp began bouncing around Daffodil harmlessly. I almost felt bad as Daffodil strangled it until it fainted. With a deep sigh, Wesley recalled his last Pokemon.

"It seems you have bested me, young trainer. In return, I award you this." Wesley walked up to me and handed me a small circular badge. There was a small picture on it showing waves moving away from the Golden Gate Bridge in four directions. "That's the Wave Badge. It will cause Pokemon of higher levels to obey you and it permits you to use the move Cut outside of battle. Here's your reward money as well." He handed me a one hundred dollar bill.

"Thanks," I told him.

He smiled as I left the gym.

"We have to find a Pokemon Center, guys," I said to Apollo, Daffodil, and Bluebelle. "Do you know where one is?" I directed the question to Apollo.

If you take a right at the end of this street, you will be right in front of one.

"Er...thanks, Apollo." It was still strange and surprising to have his voice broadcast into my head.

I found the Pokemon Center and had Daffodil and Bandit healed while Bluebelle got a check up. Apollo growled menacingly when one of the nurses tried to examine him.

"He's my friend's Pokemon. He's pretty shy," I said apologetically. The nurse backed away slowly and spent the rest of our visit hiding behind the counter.

You wish I was your Pokemon. Apollo told me.

After an hour at the Pokemon Center, we were finally able to leave. Bandit was once again nipping at my heels as we walked.

"Can we go back to the Travelodge?" I asked Apollo.

He nodded rather than answering me with his mind.

"Thank god," I said and sighed.

It took another hour to find my way back to the motel and by the time I got there, I was dead tired. My Pokemon all seemed to feel the same way, though Apollo was emotionless as usual. I climbed the stairs to the second floor and knocked on the door of our motel room.

"It's unlocked," I heard Hermes call from inside the room.

I opened the door and saw him laying on the bed watching TV. His Pokemon other than Zeus were spread across the room. Hades was laying on his lap. Ares and Hermes' Feraligatr were sitting on my bed, which was creaking dangerously. Ares was carefully holding his tail against his chest so that his tail flame didn't ignite the whole motel. Hermes' Torterra was laying on the floor in the middle of the room.

"How did it go?" Hermes asked me casually.

"Oh, fine. I won," I said and pulled out my new badge to show him.

"Good. How did Daffodil and Bluebelle do?"

That made me pause. "How did you know-"

Hermes cut me off, "Apollo told me you gave them names. By the way, have you met the rest of my team."

"Um...no. I haven't really had time to meet them, seeing as we've either been in a tiny car or being attacked since I've met you."

Hermes laughed. "Nice. Anyways, you know Apollo, Zeus, Hades, and Ares." The golden-orange Charizard looked up at his name. "And this is my Torterra, Demeter, and my Feraligatr, Poseidon. They're all male except for Demeter."

There was an awkward silence for a moment as we ran out of conversation topics. The TV seemed to be either incredibly loud or incredibly quiet.

"So, er...How was your lunch?"

Hermes looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. I didn't think he would answer, but he eventually said, "It was good. Ares caught me a Wailmer."

My mouth dropped open. I now noticed that Hermes' stomach was bulging out. "You ate an entire Wailmer?" I asked.

He laughed. "Of course not. I shared with my Pokemon. Even though Shadow Pokemon can eat normal Pokemon food, it's healthier for them to eat other Pokemon. Fun fact," he added when he saw my startled expression.

He didn't say anything after that, so I tried to climb onto the foot of my bed without upsetting Ares or Poseidon. Ares glared at me, but Poseidon looked indifferent. Daffodil and Bluebelle sat carefully on the floor next to Demeter and Bandit jumped up on the bed next to Hermes and Hades. It was only four in the afternoon, but I drifted off to sleep almost immediately.

When I woke up, no light was filtering in through the windows. The only light came from the TV that was still on. I was wondering why I was sleeping on the end of the bed before I remembered that Ares and Poseidon had claimed the rest of it as theirs. I groaned and rolled out of bed, contemplating going to find something to eat.

"Are you awake yet?" I heard Hermes voice ask me from the other side of the room.

"Yeah. I was just going to go get something to eat," I told him.

"Don't bother. I got you some McDonald's at about six. It's on the table by the door."

"Thank you." I felt touched that he had thought to do that. Then again, he was basically kidnapping me. He at least owed me some food. "What time is it now?" I asked.

"It's about two in the morning," he responded.

"Wow. I really slept a long time. Why aren't you sleeping?"

I saw some movement in the dark and realized that he had shrugged. "I don't have to sleep much. I only need an hour a day. It's no use trying to sleep on a normal schedule, it'd be like if you tried to sleep for twenty four hours after a normal night of sleep. It's just part of being a Shadow Human I suppose."

I tried to find the small table in the dark and ended up tripping over Demeter who grunted. I found the McDonald's which was now cold and ate it as quickly as possible. I wandered back to my bed, this time tripping over Daffodil who didn't make any noise.

I felt like I should do something nice for Hermes after he picked me up dinner, so I said, "I'll stay awake with you if you want."

I could see him smile through the dark, his teeth lit up by the light from the TV. "No, you need to sleep. We'll be traveling a lot tomorrow. You'll need your rest."

I tried to protest, but I cut myself off with a loud yawn. I took that as a sign that maybe he was right. I curled up at the foot of my bed and felt something nuzzle my side, though it wasn't Bandit like I expected. I opened my eyes to see Poseidon looking directly at me, his large alligator mouth pressing into my side. I smiled and patted him on the snout. He grunted in pleasure and I realized I was happy, truly happy. It was an odd feeling, one I had never before experienced. It seems odd to think that I would be happy in my current predicament, but I was. I drifted back off to sleep, scared and excited for what the next day would bring.


	3. Changes Inside And Out

**See? I told you guys I would stick with this story. Thank God. I've actually created interesting characters that I can work with. Also, if you think Alaska is getting to be a bit of a Mary Sue, wait until later. She's got problems, believe me. In response to your questions:**

**Banjo2E- To use an example that everyone should understand, is that any worse than Bella being with Edward even though he's a vampire? The answer is yes, yes it is, but I'm a sick, twisted bitch, so don't worry about that too much. Hermes hates himself, but he also likes violence, whether he'll admit it or not. You'll find out why Alaska doesn't mind being around somebody that violent, though it might be a few chapters. You'll see. This story can only get creepier. This whole thing is going to end up being like Lost, except that I'll actually explain everything in the end. I already have everything planned out...this ended up being a rant. Thanks for being a loyal reader, though. :)**

**Ultima-owner- By golden Magikarp, do you mean red herring? If so, then, kinda...I thought it revealed something of Hermes' personality, so...Just wait until the sequel...the names will make more sense then. Yes I'm on the third chapter and already planning a sequel. Whatever.**

**By the way, the chapter titles will give you a lot of info on the chapter, so you might want to read those...**

"Get up! We have to go, now!" I heard a voice yelling in my ear. It took a minute before my sleepy brain could comprehend the words being thrown at it. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"What's wrong?" I mumbled.

"Look at the news!" the voice screamed again. My eyes opened and I found my face shoved in front of a television. I tried to listen to the news reporter's voice.

"This next story contains disturbing images and videos, so if you have young children present or have a weak stomach, you might want to change the channel." There was a brief pause and then, "We have word that two mutilated bodies were found in a parking garage in downtown San Francisco. Judging by the state of the bodies, it is thought that the mystery killer that murdered over seventy people between 2005 and 2007 is back. Let's go to our roving reporter at the scene."

My eyes were now huge as the image changed from a television news studio to a dimly lit parking garage. The new reporter started talking. "The two murder victims were found in this parking garage around six hours ago. Their bodies were found torn to pieces and at first, their death was blamed on a gang of wild Pokemon, but even though the bodies were covered in tooth and claw wounds, there were also gun wounds in both victims' chests. Judging by what was left of the men's outfits, they are affiliated with some sort of gang, though no other members, family or friends have stepped forward and identified the men. It appears that the bodies of the men were partially eaten and both human and Pokemon saliva were found on the bodies. Though saliva samples were found, they were too small to retrieve DNA from."

Hermes shut the TV off and said, "That's why we have to go _now_."

I noticed that the only Pokemon in the room were Hades and my three Pokemon. I assumed that Hermes had called his larger Pokemon back to their Pokeballs. Quickly, I did the same.

"Sorry, guys," I said as Daffodil and Bluebelle disappeared in a flash of red light. I grabbed my bags and said, "Let's go." I opened the door and started to run down the hallway when Hermes grabbed my shoulder.

"Don't run," he said, "It will draw attention to you." I didn't understand how he could walk so calmly when we were in such a hurry. I was scared witless and trying to be calm was killing me. I felt like I was about to have an anxiety attack. Bandit and Hades didn't appear to be upset at all, however. The dog and raccoon Pokemon were happily chasing each other up and down the hallway as we walked. Finally, we got to the front desk where Hermes checked out (Still calmly). We walked outside the building and Hermes turned to me.

"Now we run." Before I could say anything, he had taken off towards our car, a stolen sea green Volkswagen Bug. I followed him as quickly as I could with Bandit and Hades on my heels. I opened the passenger door and threw Bandit and Hades in before jumping in myself. Hermes was already in the seat next to me.

He smiled. "You're getting faster," he said as he started the car and started driving insanely through the parking lot.

"Aren't you worried you'll get pulled over?" I said, trying to put on my seat belt as the car swerved back and forth.

"Nah," Hermes answered, looking as calm as he usually did, "I have connections."

I was too freaked out to ask any more questions until we were safely away from the city. As we passed the 'Thank You, For Visiting San Francisco' sign, I couldn't help sighing in relief. Hermes' driving was slightly less erratic now that there were less cars on the road.

"Turn on the radio," Hermes said as he tried (and failed) to pass the red Honda Accord in front of us. I did as he asked, fearing that if I didn't he would try to do it himself while driving. A classic rock station came on and I went to change it, but Hermes pushed my hand away and said, "Don't diss the classics." He turned the volume up so that we could hear what song was on. It was an old Eagles' song, Take It Easy. Hermes started to sing along. "Well I've been roaming down the road, trying to loosen my load, I got seven women on my mind, four who wanna hold me, two who wanna stone me, one 'cause she's a friend of mine, take it easy, take it easy, don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy." I stubbornly refused to sing along at first, but eventually, I was also belting out classic rock songs.

Half way through "Layla", Hermes interrupted me to ask, "Where's the next gym?"

"Los Angeles," I said during an instrument solo.

Hermes eyes grew wide behind his glasses and he said, "Oh, shit."

I was about to ask what was wrong when the car swerved across six different lanes.

"We almost drove to Topeka," he explained when I was done hyperventilating.

"Why can't you drive like a sane human being?" I asked.

"Because I'm not sane, nor am I entirely human." His face seemed to fall at his own words.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"It's okay." For a few minutes, we were driving in silence, both of us too depressed to sing along to the radio. Finally, Hermes said, "You can ask some more questions today if you want."

"I don't know," I said sheepishly, "I'm still trying to take in everything I heard yesterday. I am curious though..." I trailed off.

"What?"

"Well...those Team Shadow members from yesterday...what did they mean when they told you to stop trying to use shields? I think they were talking about me, right?"

Hermes' face grew very pale and I was worried I had upset him, before he said, "I have traveled with others before. Three others, actually. They were all like you in that they could see Shadow Humans and Pokemon. All three were girls, all three had special...powers, for lack of a better word, and all three are now dead." He looked over at my stunned face and said, "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you. I won't let anymore people be hurt because of me." His eyes grew unfocused.

I searched for something to say. "Did you all find them the same way you found me?"

He laughed. "No. The first one I found while I was actively hunting. Back then, my only Pokemon was Ares. He was still a Charmander, so he wasn't much help. I found you when I was passively hunting, which is a bit different. Passive hunting is when I see something or someone while traveling that seems like it might be a good idea to try to catch. Active hunting is when I track something or someone down purposefully. Anyway, I was about to kill her when she said, "Why are you doing this? Your eyes don't look dangerous." I didn't understand what she meant, but when she mentioned my eyes it made me curious, so I asked her what color she thought they were. She told me they were violet, so I took her with me. She lasted three days before I broke down and killed her. The urge was too strong and I couldn't control myself. After that, I thought I was a monster, so I tried to kill myself." He pulled down the collar of his shirt with one hand and I could see that there was a scar across his neck. "I tried to slit my throat, but I wouldn't die. I sat there bleeding for a while until I realized the bleeding had stopped. I thought I hadn't cut deep enough, so I tried to slit my wrists." He showed me the underside of one arm. A huge scar ran from his wrist to the inside of his elbow. "It should have killed me, but it didn't. Finally, I tried jumping off the roof of a hotel I was staying at. I fell ten stories and landed face first. I got away with nothing worse than a sprained ankle from hitting the ground at a weird angle. Once I realized I couldn't kill myself, I became a kind of vigilante. I started killing off Team Shadow members, as well as members of other evil organizations. That's how I met the second. She was a member of an obscure team from the southern United States. I can't even remember the name. I killed her partner and I was about to kill her when she said something about how her boss would kill for my violet-eyed Pokemon. By then, I had gotten sunglasses, so she couldn't see the color of my eyes. I took her with me and she died two weeks after I found her when she was shot by a Team Shadow member I was tailing. After that, I became incredibly depressed. I tried to kill myself again, this time by hanging myself at a hotel I was staying at, when a maid walked in the room. She talked me down and mentioned that someone with eyes as lovely as mine had no reason to kill themselves. My sunglasses had fallen off while I was preparing to jump, so she could see my eyes. She died a year later after being attacked by an ex Team Rocket member's Garchomp. We had been following a trail that Team Rocket had been rising again. I didn't find anyone who could see my eyes for another two years. Then I found you."

He seemed as though he was sinking into a deep silence, but before he could, I asked, "What did you mean powers?"

He sighed. "I probably shouldn't have said that. Other than being able to see my violet eyes, each of them had a power. The first was able to talk to Pokemon. The second could kill people with her mind. The Team Shadow member that shot her dropped dead thirty seconds after she did. The last was able to manipulate fire, water, and other elements. Those men I killed called them shields, because even though I wasn't around any of them for very long, they all saved my life several times. Not that it's easy to kill me, but it is possible."

"I don't have any powers," I admitted.

"The others didn't at first either. They gradually showed up over a few days. The first didn't even realize she had her power until two hours before her death."

I thought about that for a minute. This was the second day I had been near Hermes. Would my powers be showing soon? Then I thought of another question. "Why do you refer to them as first, second, and third? Don't you remember their names?"

He nodded. "They had names, but...it's painful to think them in my mind."

"Could you please tell me?" The entire road was deserted now, so I could push on without fearing that he would accidentally cause a pile up.

He hung his head and a single tear flowed down his cheek. He took off his sunglasses and wiped them off on his shirt, revealing his violet eyes to me for the second time. They were full of tears and I regretted asking him so many questions. "The first was named Jessica," he took a deep breath, "The second was Maylene," his voice trembled, "And the third was named Kotori."

I felt terrible that I had pushed Hermes so far. "I'm sorry," I told him and placed my hand on his shoulder. He flinched under my touch before relaxing.

"You should be careful about touching me," he said, "I'm okay right now, because I ate last night, but if you had touched me while I was hungry...it might have ended badly."

I quickly withdrew my hand. Hermes reached forward and turned up the radio again, though neither of us felt like singing anymore. I felt something wet touch my hand and I looked down to see Bandit licking my palm. It made me feel better, but not by a lot. I couldn't help wondering: Would I be known as the fourth someday? In some other far off place, in some far off time, in some far off car, would Hermes be telling someone about my death? Would I be just a name and a power. Or not even that. I'd never felt special, like I could do anything exciting. I tried to think of a question that wouldn't upset Hermes so much.

"How old are you?" I thought that would be a pretty safe question.

"Depends," Hermes said, "My body is sixteen, but I'm technically twenty one."

"You don't age?" I asked incredulously.

Hermes shook his head. "No, I age, but I age at one fourth of the speed you do, so, if I can avoid being killed for long enough, I should be able to live somewhere between 280 and 400 years."

I stared at him in disbelief. "I was trying to find a question that you might have a normal answer to."

Hermes smiled grimly. "Good luck with that."

"Fine. I'll find a question you can answer normally."

Hermes was laughing now, which was actually frightening, because it made his driving worse. "Bring it on," he replied.

"Okay...I've got one. What's your favorite color?"

"No fair. There is no weird answer to that question, but the answer is violet."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, maybe it's not for the better, but my life has been changed by what's happened to me. The color violet is a reminder of that to me. Also, I just always liked violet. What's your favorite color.?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Gray."

"Gray? That's kind of boring, isn't it?"

"Not to me. I like gray because it's a soft color. It feels calm and safe. It's like the ocean on a rainy day or an overcast sky. They can be either beautiful or depressing depending on how you look at it. Gray is two opposites combined: black and white. I've always felt like two opposites combined too."

"How do you mean?" Hermes looked interested now.

"Well, I've always felt like a mixture of everything: brave and cowardly, sinner and saint, hero and villain, beautiful and ugly, the list goes on."

"How are you a villain?" Hermes asked me.

"I...It's kind of personal."

"I've answered all of your questions."

"Fine. Sometimes I have these weird flashbacks. I don't know what they are, but sometimes I remember right before I fall asleep, I have images...I don't understand what they are, but in them, there's me, but not me. I'm usually a Pokemon or a different person, but I hurt people or do...other things. I don't really want to talk about it anymore. I try not to think about it."

"So that crosses two off," Hermes mused, "Sinner and villain...how are you a hero?"

"It's the same as the above. Sometimes the people I hurt in my flashbacks, I hurt them to protect someone or something. I don't know what, I can never see what it is.

"Well, there goes two more. Lots of people can be called both brave and cowardly, so I don't feel the need to ask about that. That leaves beautiful and ugly. I can understand that you're beautiful, but what's ugly about you."

I blushed. "Lots of things. When I said that I didn't mean my appearance for either of them. I'm not beautiful on the outside, but I'm not really ugly either. I guess on the inside I'm beautiful and ugly, but then again, so is everybody."

We sat in silence for a moment, which was made awkward when Hermes slammed on the brakes to keep from rear ending an orange jeep in front of us.

"Can I ask you a question?" Hermes finally said.

"Uh, sure, but I'm not that interesting."

He smiled for a moment before frowning again, "Do you hate me?"

That threw me for a loop. Did I? He had kidnapped me more or less, but then again, I was the one who had gotten in his truck. He was originally planning on killing me, but he had ended up saving my life. Even though we had only known each other two days, he felt like a friend. Also, he was giving me a ride across the country. So did I hate him? Before I had a chance to say anything, Hermes took my silence as an answer.

"I understand-" he started, but I cut him off quickly.

"No."

Now he looked confused. "No?"

"No, I don't hate you."

Hermes still looked confused. "That's...odd. I thought you would."

"Well...You did kidnap me and you were planning on killing and eating me, but then you saved my life and helped me find two new Pokemon. You are also giving me a free ride across the country, which is pretty nice. And...I think we're friends. Maybe. I can't really tell."

Hermes looked relieved. "Sorry for planning on eating you. Still, have you ever told a chicken 'sorry for eating you'? It's just how I survive." Before I could argue, he continued, "Also, yes we can be friends. Or at least we can try. I don't know how much you'll want to be around me by the fourth or fifth time I endanger your life."

We fell into silence again. I saw a sign flash by: Los Angeles 300 miles. It would have taken me fifteen days to walk to Los Angeles from that point, maybe longer. In Hermes' truck, we would get there in five or six hours. Faster if he kept driving like this. Amazing. Suddenly, Hermes face turned from thoughtfulness to fear.

"Shit," he said.

"What?"

"Look behind us."

I turned around and saw a black Mercedes right behind us. The windows were tinted, so I couldn't see inside. I could only see the car for a moment, because our car suddenly swerved down a ramp. I felt the car jump into the air and then hit the pavement again. Hermes started racing down side roads, trying to lose the Team Shadow car. Finally, he slammed down on the brakes and parked in a field behind some buildings. Cursing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handgun. The black Mercedes pulled up along side us and two Team Shadow members jumped out. They were wearing almost the same outfits as the other two, except that their uniforms didn't have hoods. As they came closer, I saw that one was a guy and the other was a girl. They both had long black hair and violet eyes.

"The boss is real pissed at you, Hermes," the girl said, "You killed Set and Apophis. It would've been bad enough if you had only killed a couple of grunts, but you made a big mistake." The girl pulled a gun out of her pocket at the same time that the guy did.

The guy cocked his gun and said, "Who's the girl? I'm surprised you haven't killed her yet. I think your record is a year, but I've always thought that was a fluke."

Hermes' face was black with anger. "Shut your mouth, Loki."

The man I assumed was Loki smirked. "Aw, did I strike a nerve? I know you only personally killed one of them, but all of their deaths were your fault. Did you enjoy it? It might hurt, but you know you loved it somewhere in your sick little mind. You liked watching them die. It's part of who you are, Hermes."

Hermes gritted his teeth. "I told you to shut up, Loki." Hermes pointed his gun at the man and started to squeeze the trigger. Loki quickly pointed his gun at me.

"Not so fast, Hermes. You might shoot me, but we both know that won't do any good until you've put at least ten bullets in me. Even then, I'll just be feeling a little woozy. By that time, she'll be dead."

Hermes pointed the gun away from him. "Fine. Then we'll have to settle this another way."

The woman snorted. "There's no 'settling this'. You're coming with us, or your friend dies."

Hermes looked like he was beaten for a moment, before he smirked. "I'll tell you what. We'll have a Pokemon battle. If you win, I'll go with you peacefully and I'll give you information. The locations of missing agents, fuel for creating more Shadow Humans and Pokemon, things like that. If we win, you have to go away and never come back."

Loki and the woman seemed to think for a minute. Finally, Loki said, "No deal. If we win, not only do we get you and your information, we also get her." He gestured to me.

"Why do you want me?" I spoke up. Hermes glared at me, but Loki chuckled.

"You don't know? I guess Hermes hasn't thought to tell you. We want you because those who can see the eyes of Shadow Pokemon and Humans make stronger Shadow Humans themselves. In addition, I'm sure you have some sort of power like all of Hermes' shields do. Too bad they never seem to live long enough for us to catch them. We want you and we'll do whatever it takes to get you. In any case, is it a deal Hermes?"

"Yes," Hermes said. He looked like it hurt him to say it.

"Very well." Loki reached into his pocket and pulled out a solid black Pokeball. "Go, Blastoise!" The black Pokeball hit the ground and a large blue turtle Pokemon appeared. Two cannons seemed to be coming out of the turtle's shell. I looked closely at the Blastoise and noticed it had violet eyes.

"Go, Demeter!" Hermes threw a Pokeball and out popped his Torterra. Demeter also looked like a turtle, though she was green and brown and had vegetation growing out of her back.

The girl next to Loki smiled and pulled out a black Pokeball. "Go, Pidgey!" The Pokeball opened and in a flash of red light, a small brown and white bird Pokemon with violet eyes was revealed.

Hermes looked furious. "You didn't say this was a double battle!"

The girl smiled. "We never said it wasn't."

I narrowed my eyes. "Go, Bluebelle!" I pulled her Pokeball out of my pocket and dropped it to the ground. My blue and white manta ray Pokemon appeared and floated into the air as if it was water.

"Razor Leaf, Demeter!" Hermes called.

"Hydro Pump, Blastoise!"

"Wing Attack, Pidgey!"

I paused and tried to think of one of Mantyke's attacks. "Use Bubblebeam, Bluebelle!"

Across the field, leaves shot out of the foliage on Demeter's back. Blastoise howled in pain as the leaves struck him, leaving deep cuts all over his body. In response, twin beams of water shot out of the cannons on Blastoise's shell, knocking Demeter to the ground. The girl's Pidgey flew forward and struck Bluebelle with it's wings before Bluebelle could attack. The attack didn't seem to do much damage and Bluebelle opened her mouth, allowing bubbles to shoot out incredibly fast and strike the Pidgey. The Pidgey winced in pain.

"Stand up and use Earthquake, Demeter!"

"Withdraw, Blastoise!"

"Gust, Pidgey!"

"Agility, Bluebelle!"

The entire ground began to shake and I looked across the field to see Demeter gripping the earth with her feet, a mad glare in her eye. Loki's Blastoise pulled itself into its shell just in time, because a split second later, a boulder dislodged by the Earthquake struck it on the back. Where the boulder had landed was a huge dent. I turned my eyes back to my battle against the other Team Shadow member and was thankful that Bluebelle was a flying type, and therefore immune to the Earthquake. The Shadow Pidgey began to flap its wings, while Bluebelle spun around the field at incredible speeds. The Pidgey's wings began to flap faster and faster, finally creating a mini tornado that struck Bluebelle and almost knocked her to the ground.

"It won't take much to finish that Mantyke off now, Pidgey! Just use Tackle!"

Bluebelle looked weak and my mind seemed to go blank as the Shadow Pidgey hurtled toward her from across the field. "Bounce!" I screamed. Bluebelle seemed to summon up all of her strength and bounce up off the ground. A split second later, the Shadow Pidgey flew through the space where she had been only a moment before. The Shadow Pidgey came to a halt and looked up at Bluebelle with wide eyes. Right about then, Bluebelle stopped coming up and started coming down. A shadow grew around the Pidgey as Bluebelle got closer and closer to impact. SMASH! Bluebelle squished the Pidgey into the ground. She jumped off happily and started to fly around the broken Pidgey. The girl Team Shadow member sighed and called her Pidgey back. I realized that I hadn't heard Hermes or Loki call anymore attacks, so I looked across the field. Demeter was happily standing on top of the bruised and battered Blastoise. She bellowed with pride before Loki called his Blastoise back. Hermes did the same with Demeter and we glared at our opponents.

"We beat you," Hermes said, scowling, "Now get the hell out of here."

"If we had any more Pokemon, we wouldn't let you go this easily," mumbled the female Team Shadow member.

"Come on, Persephone," Loki said. He started to walk back towards the black Mercedes, then turned back around to face me. "I want to know the name of the ordinary human that could beat Persephone. What is it?"

I looked to Hermes, silently asking if I should tell him. He nodded, so I said, "My name is Alaska."

Loki smiled. "Nice name. Goodbye, Alaska." As if in slow motion, I watched him pull the handgun out of his pocket, point it at me, and pull the trigger. I felt like I was in The Matrix as the bullet sped towards me in slow motion. Somewhere inside my head, a voice told me to duck, but I felt frozen. I watched as the bullet collided with my stomach. I saw as it tore apart the individual shirt fibers and then ripped through my skin. Then, everything went back to normal speed. I felt a wave of pain and screamed. It felt like I was burning alive from the inside. I had enough time to see the snarl of fury on Hermes' face and the look on Loki's face change from victory, to worry, to fear as he saw Hermes' expression. Then the world turned dark and I was gone.

I woke up in a place that was fantastically green. That's not an exaggeration. The first word that popped in my head when I opened my eyes was 'green'. I looked around and saw endless rows of trees of every shape and size. Oak trees were growing next to palm trees which looked perfectly comfortable next to a grove of bamboo. I stood up on the soft green grass and dusted myself off. I was wearing the same jeans and sweater I had been wearing when I was shot, only there was no blood or dirt on them at all. Also, I was barefoot for some reason. Strange. I wandered through the forest for what could have been a minute or an eternity before I saw the spring. The endless forest seemed to end only at the spring. It was a small thing, just some water bubbling up from some rocks, yet it seemed incredibly important. It filled my vision and I felt drawn to it. Suddenly, I had an incredible urge to drink. My throat felt like it was on fire, so without thinking, I bent down and took a long drink from the stream. When I lifted my head, I found myself face to face with a girl who seemed as green as the forest. My eyes met her emerald ones and she giggled.

"Hi," she said and hugged me as if we were best friends.

"Um...Excuse me for asking, but who are you and where am I?"

She giggled again and let me go, allowing me to take a few steps back so I could really see her. She seemed to be about the same age as me and she was wearing what looked like a Tinkerbell dress made of leaves. Her hair was dyed a light green color and she seemed to blend in perfectly with the trees behind her.

"I thought you would have figured that out by now, Wanderer," she said, her eyes glittering with laughter.

"Not...really," I admitted.

She sighed in exasperation and said, "You're in a beautiful enchanted forest, there's no pain or suffering, everything here will be peaceful for all eternity, is it adding up yet?"

I blinked in surprise. "Am I...dead?"

She smiled. "Not quite, but almost. Don't worry," she added when she saw the startled look on my face, "You're going to make it just fine, but I called you here for a reason. Do you know who I am?"

"Um...if this is...heaven or the afterlife or whatever...are you God?"

She burst out laughing as if that were the funniest thing she had ever heard. "Of course not," she said, wiping tears of laughter out of her eyes, "I'm not God, and this isn't the afterlife. This is my home and I'm...well, I'm not allowed to tell you unless you guess my name, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that you have some very important business on Earth, Wanderer." Her smile changed to a look of complete seriousness. "You and your friend are in danger."

"My friend? Do you mean Hermes?" She nodded and I snorted. "Of course we're in danger, we have some crazy terrorist organization chasing us constantly. I've only known him three days and I've already gotten shot in the gut."

She seemed like she was going to laugh, but she managed to control herself. "That's not what I meant, but that's part of it. The danger is going to be completely unexpected, you'll have no idea what it is until it's on the verge of killing you both. I can't tell you what it is or when it will strike, but I can tell you a few things. First, you are going to have a very unpleasant surprise when you wake up. Second, the danger will be involved with Team Shadow, but only one other person knows that besides you. Finally, you must trust Hermes. He will never hurt you, no matter what you say or do to him. If he does anything to harm you, then you'll know it's not really him. By then, it might be too late, but you could still fix things, I suppose." She seemed to drift off into thought, before saying, "I have to go now. Goodbye, Wanderer!" The forest girl began to fade.

"Wait," I called after her, "Can you answer one question?"

From what seemed like far away she called back, "Maybe. What's the question?"

"Why do you call me Wanderer?"

I heard her giggle and her voice seemed to be only a whisper when she said, "You'll know when the time is right."

"But-" I protested, but she was already gone. I looked around the forest and felt a sense of unease, as if something were watching me. The peaceful glade was suddenly filled with red light, and I heard a terrible howl of pain.

A voice cackled in the distance and said, "Run, Wanderer, run." Without thinking, I took off running through the blackened forest. The trees that had been beautiful only moments before, were now dead and withered, their branches reaching out to trip me. I felt something collide with me, and suddenly my body was changing. I was growing bigger and stronger. I growled in pleasure. My new form would suit me better. I roared with my new throat and the forest echoed. Suddenly, I felt something filling my lungs. I was drowning! I was drowning, but not in water. My mouth was filled with a thick, salty liquid, and I realized I was drowning in blood. I screamed.

My eyes opened and I saw the stained ceiling of a motel room. I felt the pleasant breath of an air conditioner against my skin and I sighed in relief. It was only a dream. I looked across the room and saw Hermes sitting on a bed across from mine. He looked up at me and said with surprise, "Alaska?" He started to walk across the room to me and I tried to sit up, but I felt a terrible pain in my stomach. Then I remembered being shot. I looked at my stomach to inspect the damage. It didn't look too bad. I could see the impact wound and a bruise spreading out from it, but it didn't feel like it had punctured any organs. I poked my stomach with my finger and a cut appeared where I had touched it.

"What the-" I tried to say, but what came out was a series of growls. I jumped up, ignoring the scream of pain from my stomach and looked at myself. I was orange. _I was orange!_ I screamed and felt a hand clamp over my mouth.

"Stop it!" Hermes said, "Management said they would kick us out if that happened again."

I nodded, though I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Now, I don't want to alarm you, but you appear to have...er...turned into a Charizard."

I stared at him. "WHAT!" I tried to yell, but Hermes was still holding my mouth/muzzle closed.

"Shh...it's okay. Let me tell you what happened so you can calm down. After Loki shot you, I thought you were already dead, so I took my time killing him and Persephone. I buried their Pokeballs, since there was no one to take care of them, and then I came back to bury you. I started to dig a hole and at first you looked fine, other than being, well, dead, but as I was digging I noticed you were starting to change. It wasn't anything big at first. Your skin seemed a little more orange than I remembered and your face seemed longer. I ignored that and was about to finish digging you a grave, when you kind of...spontaneously became a Charizard. I picked you up and I was on the verge of tears, and all of the sudden, you had a tail and claws. Then you had a muzzle and horns. Next thing I know, you're completely a Charizard. Now I don't know what to do. I have a dead Charizard that's too heavy to bury and can't be cremated, being a fire type, and then you started breathing. I got Zeus, Apollo, and Ares to help stick you in the back of the car, and I drove you here. Don't even ask how I managed to get you up the elevator and into this room. I'm too tired to discuss it right now."

"So that's what happened," I tried to say, but it came out as a growl.

Hermes shook his head. "This is stupid, I can't understand a word you're saying. Let me get Apollo."

As Hermes went to get his Salamence, I remembered the fairy-like girl and the strange forest. I opened my mouth to say something, but a voice in my head said, _Don't tell Hermes. Don't tell him. It will ruin everything. He's not meant to know._ The way the voice sounded, I couldn't ignore it. I decided to keep my mouth shut. A flash of light from the other side of the room caught my eye, and I turned to see Apollo appear from his Pokeball.

"You just can't seem to stay out of trouble, can you?" he asked me. It was strange to hear his voice out loud rather than in my head.

"Er...I guess not." To my surprise, the words came out perfectly.

"I'm translating everything we say to Hermes, so you can answer any questions he has, or say anything you need to."

"Thanks," I said to Apollo.

He blinked his eyes slowly, a gesture the Charizard I had become recognized as gratitude.

Hermes started talking again. "I think this is your power. Hopefully. If not, I don't know what the hell to do, but I'm pretty sure you're a Pokemorph."

"A Poke-what?" I asked.

"A Pokemorph. Someone who can transform into a certain Pokemon at will. Occasionally, they can transform into any Pokemon. It's incredibly rare to be either, and Pokemorphs are considered to be an urban legend by many people. In any case, if you are a Pokemorph, all you have to do is focus on your human form and you'll turn back. Can you do that?"

"I think so."

"Good. Now I want you to focus on what you look like as a human. Hair color, eye color, everything. Oh, also remember to imagine what you were wearing or you'll morph back naked."

I whimpered in anxiety, but didn't say anything. It didn't seem hard to do. Just focus on myself as a human. Two legs, two arms, one head, two gray eyes, dirty blonde hair, black sweater, jeans, everything that represented what I looked like, I thought of. Suddenly, I got a funny feeling under my skin. It started in my chest, but quickly spread all over my body. It felt as though I were melting. The orange Charizard skin seemed to become fleshy, pink human skin. My claws flattened and became nails. My head changed shape and hair sprouted out. I felt the bones and organs inside my body shift and change shape. A thousand changes seemed to be happening at once. I looked down and saw an odd bump on my changing stomach. I touched it with a half human-half Charizard hand, and it fell out. It was a bullet. Miraculously, the bullet wound in my stomach was completely gone. No bruises, scars, or any other sign that I had been shot. All at once, the changes stopped. I looked myself over and was relieved to find myself one hundred percent human. I turned around and saw Hermes staring at me.

"That was interesting," he said.

I shrugged. Now that I was human, it didn't feel like a big deal. Then I remembered something. "Where are my Pokemon?"

"Oh, I've got them," Hermes said and dug through my bag for a moment before coming up with three Pokeballs. "Here," he said and handed them to me.

I quickly released all three of my Pokemon who hugged me immediately. Or at least, they tried to hug me. The only one who could really pull it off was Daffodil. Bluebelle and Bandit had to be content with knocking me to the ground and nuzzling me. After greeting them, I asked Hermes, "Where are we?"

Hermes smiled. "I managed to drive us all the way to Los Angeles. Look it the awesome view we have," he added sarcastically and pulled back the blinds to reveal a huge six lane freeway less than ten feet from our window.

"That would explain the room vibrating every few seconds," I said, trying to make him laugh. It worked. Hermes went off to check on his Pokemon, and I was trying to understand everything that had happened to me that day when something occurred to me. "Hermes?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"Don't get mad at me for asking, but how do you keep fighting off two Shadow Humans at the same time by yourself. The first time you had help from your Pokemon, but this last time, you made it sound like you fought Loki and Persephone off yourself."

Hermes got a strange look in his eyes and I was worried I had said something taboo. He sighed. "Why do you always ask hard questions?" Before I could respond, he continued, "I'm stronger than them, because I was one of the first Shadow Humans. They've made the newer ones less strong to make them easier to control. Loki, Persephone, any of the new Shadow Humans have more self control than I do, but they are also far less powerful. Any other questions?"

"Just one more for right now."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"Why are you all named after different gods and goddesses? I understood that maybe you personally like mythology and named your Pokemon after them, but why do all the Shadow Humans have names like that?"

Hermes laughed. "I thought that was obvious. My Pokemon have those names because of a personal preference, but Shadow Humans are named after gods and goddesses, because we _are _gods and goddesses. Not literally, of course, but we are stronger and more intelligent than normal humans. We also have more power and less self control. In old myths, didn't you ever notice the gods couldn't keep themselves from doing stupid, reckless things? It's the same for us. Whichever god or goddess we're named after has to do with our personality."

"So why are you Hermes?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I guess I've always been a traveler like Hermes. I'm also an outlaw. Hermes was the god of thieves, so that makes sense. When I had to pick my name, Hermes just seemed like a good choice."

We sat in silence for a moment before I sighed and said, "I better go change. I've been wearing these clothes for two days."

Hermes handed me the bag with my stuff in it, and I went into the bathroom and locked the door. I changed back into my black jeans and a new t-shirt I hadn't worn before. It was black with a picture of Lugia and Ho-oh on it. When I left the bathroom, I saw Hermes as he usually was when we were in a motel room: laying on the bed and watching TV. Judging from the canned laughter, he was watching some sort of sitcom. One thing was different about the picture and it took me a minute to figure it out. That was when I realized that Hermes wasn't wearing his sunglasses. His bright violet eyes were shining with some unreadable emotion.

"Where are your glasses?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "There's no point wearing them in front of you anymore. You know everything about me now. I don't like wearing them anyway. They screw up my vision. I only wore them to help keep me from being recognized by Team Shadow. We've only been attacked by people I worked with so far, so they remembered me and the glasses weren't much help." He paused to rub his eyes for a moment before saying, "By the way, I found this in my shoe after I killed Loki and Persephone." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black Pokeball in its shrunken form, then threw it at me. I caught it with some difficulty, as it was no bigger than a grape or a large pebble. "I don't know how it slipped in there. He also had some cash on him, which is paying for this room."

I looked to make sure the room had enough room for another Pokemon, which it did, as none of Hermes' Pokemon were out other than Hades, who was curled up on Hermes' lap as usual. I noticed with some jealousy that Bandit was also lying next to him on his bed. I pressed the button on the black Pokeball and felt it expand, before I dropped it to the ground. In a flash of red light, a large outline formed, at least as tall as me, that materialized into a brown kangaroo-like Pokemon. The Pokemon didn't have violet eyes, which surprised me. Maybe Loki hadn't had time to evolve her into a Shadow Pokemon, yet. She looked at me curiously, then used a stubby hand to scratch her ear.

"Isn't that a Kangaskhan?" I asked.

"Yeah," Hermes said, "They're only found in Australia outside of zoos and private collections. You're lucky." He winked at me.

"Oh, yeah," I responded in a joking voice, "Because you don't have any rare Pokemon."

Hermes laughed.

"What time is it anyways?" I asked.

"About seven thirty at night, so don't bother going to challenge the gym until tomorrow."

My stomach grumbled and Hermes laughed again. "You sound hungry. Let's go get something to eat."

That made me pause. "But I thought you couldn't..." I trailed off.

Hermes looked back at me, a smirk on his face. "Let me rephrase that: Let's go get something for you to eat. I should probably grab these, too." He pulled his sunglasses from his pocket and put them on. He shuddered. "I hate these damn things."

I laughed. "Should we bring the Pokemon?" I looked back and saw Hermes and Bandit laying on the bed. My new Kangaskhan was staring at me curiously.

"We can bring Hermes and Bandit. You should probably put your Kangaskhan back in her Pokeball, though. She's too big."

I nodded. "Sorry, girl," I said as I called the kangaroo Pokemon back to her Pokeball. She shrugged as she vanished into the ball.

Hermes whistled for our dog and raccoon Pokemon, who followed us excitedly out the door.

"What should we name my Kangaskhan?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

Hermes thought for a moment. "How about Hestia?"

I wrinkled my nose. "I'm guessing that's a Greek goddess. Who was Hestia?"

"She was the Greek goddess of the hearth, which basically means the goddess of the home and family. She's the least known of the twelve Olympians. I thought it would be a good name since Kangaskhan are known for their motherly instincts."

"When you put it like that...I guess her name is Hestia." I pulled Hestia's Pokeball out of my pocket and rubbed it between my fingers. "Why are these Pokeballs black?"

Hermes frowned. "They're Shadow Balls. They keep the Pokemon inside them from being purified. I put my Pokemon in normal Pokeballs when I escaped from Team Shadow in the hopes that they would become purified, but I haven't had any luck with that."

I looked up and realized we were walking through the motel parking lot. I hadn't noticed walking through the building at all. I looked around and decided that if I had to describe L.A. In one word, it would be noisy. There was sound coming from every direction. Car horns, screaming voices, slamming doors, and the like all assaulted my ears. I sighed and wished we could leave the city of angels as soon as possible. Eventually, Hermes and I found a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant. I got some nachos to go and when the girl at the counter asked Hermes if he wanted anything, he shrugged and said, "I'm on a special diet." He raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

I started giggling uncontrollably at his macabre humor and the girl stared at me before handing me a plastic container with nachos. We headed back to the hotel room with the food. Neither of us felt like being out in the city at night any longer than we had to.

"Remember that there are monsters in the shadows," Hermes told me, "Everything your parents told you as a little kid is bull. Monsters are real and they are out to get you."

"You know, you should be a children's psychiatrist. People would come to see you from all over the country. Just tell all of them what you just told me."

Hermes laughed then said, "Seriously, though, I don't want you going out into the city by yourself. Team Shadow's not the only thing you have to be worried about. Normal humans can be worse monsters than anything Team Shadow creates." There was a lot of truth in that statement.

As we walked back to the motel, we had to cross several busy streets. At the final one before we reached the motel, Bandit and Hades darted out in front of a car. My eyes grew huge with fear and I jumped, knocking both of them out of the car's path. A horn honked in my ear, but I didn't really notice it. I looked down at myself, and realized I was okay. I looked over to see that Hades and Bandit were completely oblivious to what had just happened. I sighed in relief. Suddenly, I felt myself lifted off the ground. I turned my head and saw Hermes looking at me furiously.

"Why would you do that?" he said in a quiet voice.

Now I was angry. "Why wouldn't I? Our Pokemon were in danger!"

"But you're more important!"

"How am I more important?" I demanded. "My life is equal to the life of any other Pokemon or human."

Hermes growled and started carrying me back to the motel. He didn't bother to answer my question.

"Are you ignoring me?" He didn't answer. "Why am I more important?"

"I'll tell you later."

I couldn't get anything else out of him until we reached the motel room. Without bothering to turn the lights on, he dropped me on a bed unceremoniously.

"I'm not sleeping until you give me a straight answer." It hadn't been a big deal at first, but his unwillingness to answer me made me realize there was something more to this.

"I'll tell you in the morning," he said, sounding defeated. He pretended to go to sleep.

"Fine." I felt Bandit scramble up on the bed next to me. I rubbed his ears softly. Eventually, I couldn't help falling into a deep sleep.


	4. Soundtrack for The Guardian of Voyagers

**In case anybody wants one (which I doubt), here's my soundtrack for The Guardian of Voyagers. Some songs might make more sense later.**

Playlist for The Guardian of Voyagers

Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson

Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace (Like anyone needs to ask?)

Hurt by Johnny Cash (This is thrown in there to describe Hermes' feelings, if anybody was wondering)

Disturbia by Rihanna

Psycho by Puddle of Mudd

Demolition Lovers by My Chemical Romance

Who I Am Hates Who I've Been by Reliant K

Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne

Wonderwall by Oasis

It's The Only One You've Got by Three Doors Down

Vanilla Twilight by Owl City (I know this seems odd in here, but the lyrics 'When violet eyes grow brighter, and heavy wings grow lighter', actually inspired this story. Yes, this was originally supposed to be a fluffy story. *shiver* There will be some fluff, but not for a very, very long time)

Fallin' Apart by The All-American Rejects (I love the lyrics,'You knew when I was wrong, you know that I'm deranged', it just fits so well.)

Follow You Home by Nickelback

I'll Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab For Cutie (More fluff? This song might be taken more literally later on in the story. Oooohhh, spoilers.)


	5. The Goddess And The Dream

**Okay, this is a short chapter, but it's going to explain a lot. Hold on to your freakin' hats. Also, I know it hasn't been that long since the last chapter, but this is more of an in between thing. Hope you guys like this! Still hoping somebody writes me a Dark Hermes story. Also, if you want lemons very, very, very far in the future (maybe even in the sequel) tell me. I don't know if I'm going to do that yet. I don't want to do a gay, Stephenie Meyer fade to black, so it's either all the way or not at all. ;)**

As soon as I fell asleep, the dream began. "Take a look, Wanderer," whispered a voice, the same voice I had heard in my nightmare after my encounter with the forest girl.

I found myself in a room that looked like it belonged in a hospital. I was standing next to an operating table. Men wearing lab coats, gloves, and face masks were crowded around so that I couldn't see the person being operated on. I heard whispers as the men asked each other for different medical instruments. The beeping of different monitors filled in the space between their requests.

"They can't see you, Wanderer, move closer," the voice commanded.

Without meaning to, I drifted forward. I felt myself pass through one of the men standing next to the table. I felt as though I were a ghost, silently watching the actions of the living. I looked down at the table curiously and I saw a smallish girl laying unconscious on her back. She had long black hair and looked extremely pale. She was dressed in one of those hospital gowns that feel as if they're made of paper towels. There were no marks on her, so I assumed the surgery hadn't started, though I noticed that a patch of hair on top of her head was shaved off. Was she having brain surgery? Suddenly, a doctor reached forward, a knife in his hand, and cut through the hairless patch of skin on her head. I watched, as if in a trance, as he kept cutting until the skin peeled away and there was only bone. He pulled out a sharper knife and began to saw through her skull until I could see something pinkish gray pulsing inside of her head. I looked away in disgust as I realized it was her brain. All of the sudden. I felt myself being pulled, but I couldn't tell what direction I was heading. I looked back at the operating table wand was shocked to see the doctor stitching up the skin he had cut open.

"Wake her up," one of the men said.

The doctor reached forward again, this time with a syringe in his hand, and carefully pushed it into the crook of the girl's elbow. Her body shuddered and she opened her eyes. Her eyes grew wide and my mouth fell open in shock. She had bright violet eyes. She began to shake violently.

"What did you do to me?" she asked, sounding panic.

The doctor placed his hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Rachel," he said, "It's going to be-"

Rachel started to scream. "What did you do to me? What did you do? I feel like I'm falling apart!"

"It's okay Rachel, that's normal. We're going to register you now...I think your new name is supposed to be..." The doctor trailed off and turned around, grabbing a book and flipping through the pages. Most of the other men were standing away from the table now. "Your new name is Isis."

However, whether her name was Isis or Rachel, she wasn't listening. "I feel...strange," she mumbled. Suddenly, her eyes started glowing. The doctor stepped back in fear, but Rachel/Isis smiled. Her violet eyes turned black and she jumped at the doctor, knocking over the operating table and smashing several monitors. The sounds of beeping from the remaining monitors was unbearable. The doctor screamed as Rachel/Isis began to bite down into his neck. I could see the blood welling out, when one of the men grabbed a huge needle and stabbed it into Isis/Rachel's back. She released the doctor, looked confused, then fell over. Her violet eyes stared blankly up at the men rushing around her. Then the world stopped.

"Look closely, Wanderer. Look at the girl, look at the monster, do you see it?" the voice said. It sounded as if it were whispering in my ear.

I looked closely at the girl's limp body. Suddenly, the edges of it started to flicker. For a fraction of a second, her hair was dirty blonde and her eyes were gray. The shape of her face seemed to shift. I was suddenly looking at a reflection of myself.

"YOU ARE ONE AND THE SAME, WANDERER. YOU ARE ONE AND THE SAME. DON'T FORGET WHAT I HAVE SHOWN YOU, WANDERER. DON'T FORGET THAT YOU ARE ALSO A MONSTER," the voice boomed all around me.

I felt an awful pain and woke up. I saw Hermes standing over me.

"Are you all right?" he asked, "You were screaming."

I was panting wildly, trying to catch my breath. I suddenly felt terribly afraid. I jumped, knocking Hermes over and pinning him to the bed. I felt stronger than I ever had in my life.

"Do you know a Shadow Human named Isis?" I demanded.

Hermes looked shocked. "I...used to."

I felt my heart pounding wildly in my chest. "What happened to her?"

"I killed her."

I felt as if everything had slowed to a stop, just like in my dream. "You killed her?" I asked, hoping he would say no.

"Yes." Hermes' violet eyes were sparkling with emotion.

I let him up and then collapsed down on the bed. I felt tears stinging my eyes. I was that girl. I was Rachel/Isis...somehow...if I had been born in 1995, and she hadn't been killed until sometime in the 2000's, there was no way I could be her reincarnated. What else could have happened?

"Without being rude, can I ask what in the hell happened?"

I took a deep breath. "I am apparently Isis. Somehow. I'm not reincarnated, but we're the same person...I think."

"Why do you think that is?" Hermes was staring at me as though I were dangerous.

"I saw it in a dream." I explained to him the dream I had and how I had also had a dream right before I woke up as a Charizard.

"Alaska, are you sure you didn't just have a bad dream?"

I paused. Was it possible? I didn't think so. Besides, hadn't the forest girl warned me about some danger linked to Team Shadow? Couldn't this be it?

"I don't think so. I had another dream after I got shot..." I explained to him about the girl I had seen in the forest.

He looked worried. "You had a dream about a girl in the forest dressed in all green? Did she tell you her name?"

I shook my head. "She said she could only tell me her name if I guessed who she was."

"You should be careful. I've heard of greater forces using humans and Pokemon as pawns."

"But...she seemed really benevolent." I couldn't imagine that the girl I had seen would use me...she seemed more like a guardian or something. I had privately believed her to be some kind of angel.

Hermes sighed. "God only knows why my life is so complicated. I don't know how to tell if you're actually Isis...or even how you could be her. I killed her about three years ago...I think it was summer or fall. Did anything significant happen to you around that time?"

I thought back. Three years ago would be 2007...during summer or fall...suddenly I remembered. My body froze as the memory played back in my mind.

_ It was cool outside as I walked home from school that day. I was excited to get home, as the next day was my birthday. The air smelled like fallen leaves, an earthy smell that characterized fall for me. I crossed a street when it happened._

_ The car came around the corner going at least 50 mph. My body froze in shock and I couldn't move to get out of the way. At the last moment, my muscles unlocked and I tried to run, but it was too late. The car hit me. I felt myself being dragged underneath it, the wheels crushing my tiny body, dragging me along the asphalt for a few yards before dropping me and driving me away. I felt an immense pain throughout my entire body. It wasn't just one bone or muscle, my whole body was broken, useless. I tried to suck in air, but my lungs refused to expand. Soon, my heart refused to pump blood. I felt every part of me shutting down. I couldn't move my arms or legs. Couldn't open my mouth to whisper a few last words. I could only struggle to breathe as my brain refused to work without the blood that my heart refused to send it. I felt myself lifted away from my destroyed body. I felt light as a feather. I didn't feel the pain anymore. I looked sideways and saw myself lying on the ground, my blue eyes glazed over. I was afraid. I felt like crying. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw a girl with long black hair. Her eyes were a bright violet and she smiled at me._

_ "Don't worry, I'll fix everything for you," she said._

_ Tears ran down her face as she pulled me back towards my broken body and pushed me back in. I felt her being pulled in with me. Suddenly, I shuddered and stood up. Where was I? What had happened? Why was I lying in the road? I stood up and dusted myself off and started walking home again._

My mind snapped back to the present and I said, "I died."

Hermes eyes grew wide with shock, and I felt something in the back of my mind. At first I thought it was just a stray thought, but it grew more and more prominent in my brain until I couldn't ignore it. I let myself drift back into the world of my mind and was shocked to see the girl with long black hair.

"Hello, Alaska," she said, a smile on her face.

"Hi, Isis."


	6. The Darkness Grows

**This chapter is longer than the last, but still not as long as chapters two and three, so sorry about that. By the way, this chapter has some graphic (read: awesome) violence. It's on par with what you would read in the Animorphs or see in a low budget slasher flick. Seriously, somebody loses their shit in this one. If things stay this crazy, I might have to change the story to be rated M, though I'll hold that off as long as possible. By the way, I have a new reader, so we're up to three now. I love you guys, and thanks for staying with my story so long. Also, you're going to love the next chapter, but I won't tell you why, cause then I'd be wrecking it for you. Here's my responses to your comments:**

**Ultima-owner: You're going to be seeing more dead people pretty soon. *smirks evilly***

**Banjo2E: Sorry you didn't like the soundtrack thing. Normally, I hate that kind of crap, but I justified it with how bored I was. Also, what do you mean by evil ball? In any case, I hope you enjoy the rest of this story. (I'll try not to do any more gay soundtrack-type stuff, but I ain't making promises, ya' here?)**

**Japaneserockergirl: W00T! New reader! Sorry my action scenes suck...I think I'm better at internal character development than at action. However, I have a lot of action in this chapter, so hopefully I've gotten better. Hopefully, you like a heaping portion of gore with your action. I made it extra sloppy for 'ya. (Hopefully, one of you guys realize I quoted that from an Adam Sandler movie and don't think I'm a serial killer.) Also, this isn't based on a novel, I just had this weird dream where I was talking to some guy with blonde hair and glowing violet eyes. I woke up, thought someone might have slipped me something, and didn't realize I could make this into a Pokemon story until a few months later. Hope you like the rest of this!**

"Alaska, I need to use your body for a minute," Isis told me.

"Why?" Even though I didn't really know her, I felt like I could trust her, but still...

"Alaska..." Isis drifted off. She let her long black hair fall in front of her face, hiding her violet eyes. "I need to speak to Hermes, Alaska."

"I...I guess so...How do I let you take control?"

As it was, I was floating in the blank white space of my mind. I had no idea how to get back out, so letting Isis do her thing was pretty much my only option.

"I know what to do," she told me, "Just don't fight me when I try to take over your body. I won't let anything happen to you. I already saved your life once."

"Okay." I nodded.

Suddenly, I felt myself being pulled back into the endless white space of my mind. I struggled for a minute, until I heard Isis let out an angry hiss. "Stop fighting, you'll be fine." I did my best to hold still, but I still occasionally twitched in discomfort. It was a little like being at the dentist's. I couldn't feel anything hurting me, but I still wanted to get the hell out of there. Then, I was out of the blank nothingness and I could see Hermes and our motel room again. I tried to speak, but couldn't open my mouth. I tried to blink, but my eyes wouldn't move. I tried to move every part of my body, but soon realized I was completely immobile. "You won't be able to do anything from there," Isis told me, "You can only watch." I felt my body shudder as Isis took control. My eyes focused on Hermes without me doing it. It was a little confusing.

"Alaska? Are you in there?" Hermes asked with some concern. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide with shock. "Your eyes...they're violet."

I felt the corners of my lips turn up in a smug smile. "Hello, Hermes," Isis said. It sounded like my voice, and yet, the way she spoke was...different. The words came out differently than I would say them. Maybe she used a different voice inflection.

"Alaska?" Hermes asked, his voice betraying his panic.

"No, Hermes. It's me, Isis."

If his eyes had been wide before, it was nothing compared to now. "Isis? You're alive?"

"Yes, Sherlock, I'm alive...more or less. Alaska has temporarily given me control of her body, so I can talk to you."

"Er...what do you want to talk about?" Hermes was looking uncomfortable.

"You killed me, Hermes. I've had three long years to think that over. At first, I wanted to kill you in revenge, but now, I have a different request."

"Which is...?"

"I want you to kill the boss of Team Shadow. While you may have killed me, it is ultimately his fault. I'd rather see him dead than you, though if I thought I could get away with killing both of you, I would."

"You know, Isis, I've been tracking Team Shadow for a long time, and it is my goal to eventually kill him, but-"

Suddenly, I felt a pool of anger inside me as Isis started yelling. "Cut the crap, Hermes! Either you kill him by the end of the year, or I'm going to break her mind."

"Your going to what?" I asked her from inside my mind bubble, but she ignored me.

The look on Hermes' face was terrifying. It would have frightened anyone else into submission, but I had the feeling Isis wouldn't go down so easily. "You wouldn't dare," Hermes said, his fists clenched in anger.

"But I would." Isis made me smile again. "I saved her life once, maybe I can take it back."

Hermes began to shake.

"Better watch your temper, Hermes...I'm going back now, but remember what I've said. I'll make somebody pay, whether it's you, Team Shadow, or even Alaska. Somebody's going to end up hurt." And with that, I felt Isis relinquish my body. Suddenly, I could move again.

"Oh, thank God," I said. "Are you okay?" I asked Hermes.

Hermes seemed to be watching me nervously. "Your eyes are back to normal," he said, almost as if he were talking to himself, "Are you back Alaska?"

"Yeah, it's me again. What in the hell just happened?"

Hermes grimaced. "I believe you died around age eleven."

"Yeah, I got that part. How did Isis save me? And why didn't I remember that?"

"I don't know how she saved you, but you probably don't remember because she purposefully suppressed that memory. In fact, she could have suppressed hundreds of memories that you aren't even aware exist."

"Thanks," I said dryly, "That makes me feel so much better."

Hermes sighed rather than laughing like he normally would. "I need to eat again...Can you control Isis while you're at the gym?"

"I think so. She doesn't seem to be overly fond of me, but she obviously doesn't hate me either." Truthfully, I was nervous, but she had been inside of me for three years and never hurt anything before...That I knew of.

Hermes pulled a Pokeball out of his pocket and released his Salamence, Apollo. "Take Apollo with you. Keep your Pokemon in their Pokeballs until you get to the gym. If she attacks you, Apollo will stop her." He turned to the red and blue dragon. "Apollo, mind link."

Apollo locked eyes with me. I was about to ask what was supposed to be happening when I felt it. It was like somebody knocking on the door to mind. I could feel something trying to get inside my head. I panicked and started fighting back. Somewhere in the real world, I heard Apollo growl.

"Relax, Alaska. It's only Apollo," Hermes said.

I tried to calm myself and take down the walls I had placed around my mind, but I was still afraid. After meeting Isis, I was somehow more aware of the private sanctuary of my mind, and I was less happy about letting people inside. I felt something impact my mind and I lost my concentration. When I came back to my senses, I realized Apollo had finally managed to break inside. I felt his presence wash over me and I no longer felt afraid. Apollo's mind was different from the hectic, raging mind of Isis. His mind was a sea of calmness. I felt safe. I returned to the conscious world.

"Did it work?" Hermes asked.

"Yeah I think so," I rubbed the side of my head, "What happened to my life?"

"It ended about three years ago," Hermes deadpanned.

"Oh yeah..."

"Anyways, if she tries to take over your mind again, Apollo will stop her and contact me. I'll get there as soon as I can." He reached into his pocket and pulled out another Pokeball. He tossed the Pokeball to the ground and Ares popped out. The Charizard grunted as Hermes climbed on his back, then opened his wings wide and flew out the window.

I returned my Pokemon to their Pokeballs and left the motel room. I locked the door, figuring that Hermes could get back in through the window. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt the presence of Isis, but she wasn't bothering me, so I left her alone.

"What type is this gym?" someone asked me. I looked around before realizing that Apollo had asked me. Now that we were mind linked, it sounded as if he had spoken out loud.

"Er...it's a dark gym," I said, feeling awkward since it looked like I was talking to myself. However, in a city as big as Los Angeles, talking to yourself wasn't enough to get noticed, thankfully. There were much weirder people than me and Apollo walking around. I flinched away as a man wearing only a thong made of cardboard walked past me.

"Is there something wrong with the humans here?" Apollo asked curiously.

"No more than usual."

Hermes had found a motel only a few blocks from the gym, which was good, because Los Angeles was huge. The city was spread out over miles and miles, unlike San Francisco. If we had been too much farther away from the gym, I wouldn't have been able to walk. When I saw the gym, I was surprised. The San Francisco gym had been huge, noisy, vibrant, and a general spectacle, but this gym seemed to be nothing more than a broken down shed. I opened the rusty looking metal door, praying it wouldn't collapse, and was greeted with a surprise. Rather than a gym, I saw a long tunnel leading deep underground.

"Is it safe to go in, Apollo?"

Apollo growled and folded his ruby red wings against his back. "I don't like being beneath the earth," he said, "But I sense no danger and I have no fear. We shall descend."

I shrugged and began the long climb down. After about twenty feet, the tunnel went around a corner and it became too dark to see. I was about to turn back, when Apollo opened his mouth and a ball of fire came out. At first, the fire shot out, and I had to duck to avoid getting singed, but eventually, Apollo managed to contain the fire in his jaws.

"Being able to read your mind is useful sometimes," he said.

"You can read my mind?"

"Of course. However, I don't believe Isis can. I was born with Psychic powers. She was not."

While that did comfort me, the thought of Apollo being able to read my mind made me nervous. What if I thought of something embarrassing? After a while, I stopped thinking about it. The tunnel seemed to go on for miles, and the twists and turns became more common the farther down we went.

"I don't think we got the right address," I said nervously.

"I believe we are in the right place," Apollo told me, "I sense the minds of others. However, one mind is blocking me. I cannot see who or what it is."

"How delightful..." I muttered under my breath.

Suddenly, the tunnel widened and I found myself standing in a huge room. Apollo's Ember could no longer light the entire space and I felt as though the room were enormous. I heard cackling from the edges of the room. I shivered and heard the evil sounding laughter again, though this time, it sounded closer. I unconsciously leaned into Apollo out of fear. He growled, though he didn't sound angry.

"Do not be afraid, little one. There is nothing to fear. I sense only Pokemon and the force that is blocking my mind from seeing it. I assume it is a human," Apollo said, obviously trying to comfort me.

I heard the laughter again. "I can sense your presence," said a voice. It was very quiet, and if I hadn't been underground, I would have thought it was a trick of the wind. "I can feel seven lives entering my home. How many will leave?" The voice began to laugh hysterically. "One human, five Pokemon, and one other...I don't recognize what it is. What are you hiding from me? I want to know what it is."

Before the voice could say another word, Apollo shot an Ember towards the part of the chamber where the voice seemed to be coming from. The Ember stopped in mid air, a glowing ball of fire surrounded by a pulsing shield of purple light. The fire and light combined were enough to light up the cave. I looked around and saw various dark Pokemon crouched in the shadows, but what drew my attention most, was the figure sitting beneath the ball of fire. It looked vaguely human, yet there was no way such a foul thing could be considered a person. It was sitting cross legged with one hand extended into the air. Purple energy seemed to flow from the hand and held the fire inside the ball of light. The figure was ghostly white, so pale, I could see through its skin enough to see every vein and artery flowing beneath the skin. The creature had no hair upon its head and was wearing only a robe that seemed to be made of rags. However, what was most horrifying about the creature, was the two empty sockets where its eyes should be. I took a step back and felt bile rise in my throat.

"Have I made you sick, human?" the creature asked. "Do I make you disgusted?" The creature laughed cruelly, before asking, "What is your name, human?"

"My name?"

"Yes...is that too difficult of a question for you to understand?"

"No." Normally, I would be furious at an insult to my intelligence, but I didn't want to anger the creature. "My name is Alaska."

"Really? That's not what I am sensing. Alaska was your name, but that name no longer describes you, and you no longer fit it. I sense a new name for you, one you have never heard, but will soon, I think. This name represents the power inside you. Not the being living inside you that is giving you power, but a power that you are creating." My mouth dropped open. "Names are important, human. Or should I say, almost human. You are not entirely human, I sense a changing in you, a wildness that is not found in your kind. Be careful human, names are important things, and you should always use the correct one. Would you like to know my name?"

"Er...I guess so."

The creature smiled, revealing a mouth full of black, rotting teeth. "My name is Maeve. I was once a human girl like you, but I gave that up for something better. Not many people have that choice, but I did, as well as you. There is a greatness about you Nameless One. I will not call you by the name you have given yourself, for it is not the correct one, and I shall not anger the spirits by using it. Tell me, Nameless One, do you wish to be like me?" She laughed at the look of horror on my face. "You don't have to answer that, Nameless One, if you can tell me another name that you are called."

Another name? Hadn't the girl in the forest called me a strange name. What was it... "I think somebody called me Wanderer once."

Maeve's empty eye sockets grew wide with surprise. "Who called you Wanderer?"

"Er...a girl I met once...in a...forest." I don't know why I lied to Maeve, but telling her about the dream seemed like a bad idea.

"A girl in a forest? Tell me, was she wearing a dress made of leaves?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"So you've met the Traveler...Perhaps she is right. If you are the Wanderer...There is only one way to tell. Do you travel with the Hunter?"

"The Hunter?" I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Yes, the Hunter, the constant companion of the Wanderer."

I stared at her blankly.

"You may not yet know him by that name...The Hunter is always strange. He appears as a monster of some kind, travels with the Wanderer and powerful allies, kills sentient creatures such as humans and Pokemon-" She continued on for a few moments, but I had already stopped listening.

I turned to Apollo. "Do you think she means Hermes?"

Apollo looked away uncomfortably. "He has gone by the name she calls him."

I stared at him with an open mouth. "How many times is my life going to get more screwed up!" I screamed. I looked over and saw Maeve staring at me...well, she looked like she might have been staring if she had eyes.

"So you know the Hunter...in that case, maybe it would be unwise to battle you."

"Why would you battle me?"

"Because I am the leader of the Los Angeles City Gym." She had a look on her face as though I were stupid.

"You are?"

Rather than answering me, she seemed to dig inside her dress made of rags and pulled out a filthy looking piece of metal. "For you, Wanderer." She held it out to me with the hand that wasn't supporting the ball of flames.

I looked at Apollo nervously. "It is safe to retrieve it," he told me telepathically.

I walked over to Maeve and took the piece of metal. I squinted at it and realized it was a gym badge. It was the shape of a circle and had a picture of a Mightyena howling at the moon on it, beneath a layer of grime.

"Er...thanks," I said.

"Anytime," she said, smiling. "If you ever need help, you know who to ask. I suppose I had better find someone to get you out of this wretched cave...SABLEYE!" she screamed. A small purple Pokemon with diamonds for eyes ran forward from the shadows. "Teleport the Wanderer and her companion to the surface, please." The Sableye grinned and wrapped a clawed hand around mine. I shuddered at his touch, but he ignored me and grabbed onto the edge of Apollo's wing. Before Apollo could growl at him, we had disappeared in a flash of light. I felt nauseous for a split second, then found myself back at the entrance to the gym. The Sableye giggled furiously for a moment, then clapped his hands and disappeared.

I looked over at Apollo. "That was odd."

He grunted in response. We started walking back to the motel, and at first, I didn't notice that I was going the wrong way. Soon, however, it became blindingly obvious that we were lost.

"Er...do you know where we're going?" I asked Apollo.

"Not anymore than you do."

We wandered around for another hour before I looked up and saw that we were in a seedy neighborhood. It was oddly quiet, as though it were deserted. None of the houses had lights on, and I couldn't hear TVs, radios, or even people talking. Still, I felt as though I was being watched.

"WATCH OUT, ALASKA!" Isis shouted from a far away part of my mind. I whipped around just in time to be knocked to the ground. My vision grew cloudy and I couldn't see for a moment. I felt someone digging through my pocket as my dizziness spell went away.

"Where are you, Apollo?" I moaned.

I heard an earsplitting roar. Then gunshots. One, two, three, four, five. I heard a whimper and then a loud thump as something heavy hit the ground. In my mind, I felt something fading away. A shadow came inside of me and consumed what was left of the noble blue and red dragon. Death touched the edges of my brain and I mentally flinched. It didn't touch me again.

"No, no, no, no...Apollo..." The Salamence was gruff, but he had made me feel safe. Now I felt bare and exposed. I tried to turn my head to the side, but caught only a glimpse of feet in dirty tennis shoes walking by. Then, someone slapped me. I looked up and saw a man staring at me. I couldn't tell much about him except that he had a long scar that went from his ear down to his chin. I felt something cold pressed to my throat and realized it was a knife. I moaned in fear as I felt the knife press against my throat and a tiny drop of blood pool out.

"Nice catch," someone said to the left of me, "Let's finish this."

"Not to fast, I want to see this one squirm."

I estimated there were about three men surrounding me. My insides squirmed with fear. I searched for Isis in my mind, but she seemed to be hiding, not wanting to see what would happen. I screamed in pain as one of the men stomped my ankle, shattering it. Suddenly, something inside of me snapped. Without thinking about what I was doing, I concentrated on making myself powerful. I felt my spine elongating as my body grew bigger. My arms flattened into wing-like limbs, and my hands and fingers grew together and hardened, becoming ivory spikes, jutting out from my fake wings. I felt my hair being sucked back into my head as my skull grew elongated. My teeth became razor sharp and several new ones grew in. My three smallest toes on each foot grew together and formed a talon. The two toes remaining on my feet did the same. I felt something pushing out of the base of my spine and I suddenly had an extra limb. I realized it was a tail. Finally, I felt my eyes narrow and become super powerful, able to see the smallest movement of the tiniest creature. I roared and the men screamed. I was a Garchomp.

I jumped forward and seized the man who had been holding me to the ground with my jaws. He had scrambled off of me during the transformation process, but he hadn't managed to get far. I felt a fire burning in my throat and allowed it to crawl up into my mouth and singe the skin of the man I was holding. I dug the talons of my left foot into the man's waist and pulled. I pulled the opposite direction with my jaws, and the mans screams were cut off by a loud ripping noise as he was torn in half.

One of the men had been smart enough to get away, but the other one was frozen in horror as I leaped ten feet through the air and knocked him to the ground. Using the claws on the ends of my wings, I ripped him to shreds. I growled in pleasure as I tore apart his insides. His screaming ended much too soon and I backed away from him in disappointment. I stood in between the two bodies and roared loudly, claiming the kills as mine. That was when I felt the annoying twitch in the back of my head. I scratched my head with my wing-claw, but the feeling didn't go away. It grew bigger and bigger, until I felt myself pulled into my mind.

Within seconds, I was floating in the blank white space of my brain. I was face to face with an angry girl with violet eyes and long, black hair.

"Snap out of it, Alaska," she said coldly.

Alaska? Who was...Then I remembered. I looked down at myself, both physically and mentally, and saw I was a human again. A human covered in the dead bodies of two men. I screamed and brought myself back to the real world. I looked around and spotted Apollo's body. He had two bullet wounds in his left wing, one in his left front leg, one embedded into his spinal cord, and the last bullet had completely blown away the back of his head. Blood and brain matter dribbled out. I turned around and was horrified to find myself staring at the equally gruesome remains of the two men I had killed. I started to vomit.

"Not now, Alaska," Isis' voice whispered, "Get back to the motel, quickly."

I managed to stop vomiting and stuck my hand in the pocket of my jeans to make sure my Pokeballs were still there. Thankfully, they were. I sighed in relief and released Bluebelle. My Mantyke did a back flip in mid air when she saw me.

"I know you're not a good flier, Bluebelle, but I need you to get me back to the motel. Can you do that?"

Bluebelle nodded, her blue antenna-like appendages bobbing. She then looked at the blood splattered ground and whined hungrily.

"Er...you can eat later," I said, trying to keep the disgust out of my voice. "We need to get the hell out of here now."

Bluebelle nodded and floated over to me. I collapsed on her back and felt as she lifted me into the air. My legs dangled off of her back into thin air. Normally, I would be frightened, but right then, I didn't care. I saw a Fearow fly by and passed out.


	7. The First Warming

**Okay guys, this one is really exciting cause we have a new POV. Also, there isn't as much violence in this one, though there's still some (Cause this story wouldn't be the same without it), but there is also fluff at the end. Only a tiny bit. Just a little. Can't have too much of that screwing up the damn thing, can we? Actually, this story may get darker (Don't ask how that's possible) cause I'm having a Stephen King binge. Before, I was being influenced by stories about rainbows and butterflies, so after this, expect some twisted ass stuff. In any case, I hope you like this chapter.**

**Aww...only one reviewer so far since the last one.**

**Ultima-owner: Apollo wasn't originally going to die until the sequel (He was going to end up being Hermes' reincarnated father), but I needed to show what was at stake in this story. I am not afraid to kill people and if I had more characters, it would have happened bunches already. However, I feel sad too, cause I liked Apollo. Now, however, Hermes' other Pokemon will be having more cameos. Seriously, Zeus, Poseidon, and Demeter haven't got jack shit. Actually, neither has Hestia. I'll have to use her more next chapter.**

**Hermes POV** (Are you friggin' excited yet?)

"Anyways, if she tries to take over your mind again, Apollo will stop her and contact me. I'll get there as soon as I can," I told Alaska. I pulled Are's Pokeball out of my pocket and threw it to the floor. The orange dragon Pokemon appeared in a flash of red light. Without another word, I hopped on his back and we flew out of the open window.

I couldn't stand to be around Alaska any longer. My urge to kill was growing out of control and the added stress of Isis' presence made it even harder to control myself. My heart was beating out of control and my vision was going in and out of focus. If I didn't eat soon, I would go into Hyper Mode which wouldn't end well...The last time that had happened I had destroyed an entire apartment complex. Luckily, Ares quickly found a patch of forest a few miles outside of the bustling city. I sighed in relief as he touched down on the ground. I jumped off of his back stood completely still, listening for noise. A rustle in the bushes alerted me to a Ratatta, but I would need something more to stay safe until Dallas. The desert had few Pokemon, which left only humans to feed off of...I wished to avoid that if at all possible. The snap of a branch and my head jerked up to see a Pidgeotto flying off with the Ratatta I had heard. I smiled grimly and hopped back onto Ares' back.

"Follow it," I told him.

Ares knew what to do by himself, so I drifted off into my own thoughts as he tailed the Pidgeotto. Isis was a threat that I couldn't afford to ignore. However, the only way to get rid of her would be killing Alaska. It wouldn't be hard...she slept eight hours a day, meaning he had plenty of time to kill her...it could be fun. I recoiled at my own thoughts. I wasn't a monster. I didn't want to kill her, didn't want to kill anyone. I would have to think of another way. The fact that I had even been thinking about killing her made me feel sick. I was so sick of myself. If she hadn't been in danger from Team Shadow I would have jumped off of Ares' back right then. He was a few hundred feet in the air. Even I wouldn't have survived that fall. Yet I couldn't leave Alaska to Team Shadow, couldn't let her end up like me. I needed to eat. At that thought, I looked up to see how close we were to the Pidgeotto. We were about thirty feet behind it now. Ares must be getting ready to close in on the kill. Suddenly, his wings began to beat faster and he overtook the brown and white bird Pokemon. It shrieked in fear as Ares raked it with his claws. I was thrown upside down as Ares began to claw at the Pidgeotto's underside from beneath it. Feathers were flying everywhere and I could hardly see as Ares ripped open the belly of the bird Pokemon. I gave over to the Shadow part of my brain as the bird plummeted to earth and Ares followed it. Soon I would eat.

I came back to my senses to see that the sun had moved noticeably lower in the sky. The Pidgeotto was mostly gone. Ares had cleaned up the area to make it look as though the Pidgeotto had been killed by another Pidgeotto or a Pidgeot. That was good. I didn't want to look at myself. Didn't want to see the evidence that I was no longer human. Didn't want to see the evidence of my dying conscience.

"Let's get the hell out of here," I told Ares, "I need a shower."

He grunted in response and I jumped on his back. Within twenty minutes we were back at our motel. Ares was hovering next to our window three stories above the ground, making sure no one was looking up as before we flew in. Ares dumped me on one of the beds and landed on the other one. I groaned and picked myself up before heading to the bathroom. I reached to turn the shower on and felt like I had been stabbed. Carefully, I pulled my hand away from the shower and lifted my shirt. I backed up towards the mirror and looked at my reflection. A huge slash ran from my left shoulder to the lower right side of my back. It seemed to have scabbed over, but I could tell it was deep. I winced and wondered whether I had gotten it from the Pidgeotto or Ares. I would need a new shirt as the one I had been wearing was probably ripped. I went back to the shower and turned the water on. I looked darkly at the red tinged water around the drain. A mixture of my blood and my prey's. Could've been worse. It could've been human blood.

Suddenly, I felt an odd absence in my mind. I drew inside myself and looked around. It took me a minute to notice what was missing.

"Apollo?"

No response. There was no way that could be good. The only reason Apollo would no longer be mind linked with me was if he had been knocked unconscious or he was dead. Shit. I quickly washed the dried blood out of my hair and got out of the shower. I threw a pair of jeans on and another black t-shirt. I had no idea where Alaska was or what had happened to Apollo, so all I could do was sit and wait. I turned on the TV as background noise, but didn't really pay attention. I was incredibly nervous. If something had happened to Apollo, then there was no way that Alaska would be safe. What if she never came back? How long could I wait here? She was my only chance to be human again, my only hope of being purified...yet, that wasn't the only reason I was worried...There was something else. I tried not to think about what that other reason was.

I almost fainted with relief when I saw Bluebelle, Alaska's Mantyke, fly in the window. That's when I saw her. She was completely covered in blood, her clothes sticking to her, her hair matted against her face with it. I couldn't tell whose blood it was. I picked her up carefully, trying not to hurt her worse, and set her fully clothed in the tub. Bluebelle followed me into the bathroom and watched me carefully. I turned to the blue manta ray Pokemon.

"Can you use a very light Bubble on her? I need to see how much of the blood is hers and I don't want to turn on the shower, because it might drown her."

_Drown her,_ said a voice deep in my head. I recognized it, as it had haunted me many times before. _It would be so easy now, to end her life. You don't need to be pure, you don't need to be free from me. I make you powerful. Kill her. Kill her while it's simple. If you kill her you kill the enemy inside her as well. Kill-_

I hissed at myself in annoyance, cutting the voice off. Bluebelle stared at me as though I were crazy, but then turned back and began to spray her with small bubbles. Everywhere the bubbles touched her, they burst and made the spot completely clean. Within a few seconds, I could see that the only injury to her were a few small bruises and a tiny cut on her neck. Bluebelle stopped blowing bubbles.

"Thank God," I muttered to myself, then wondered what I should do next.

_Kill her, _the voice suggested, _Now is the perfect time. Drown her, shoot her, stab her, kill-_

_ NO,_ I responded to it inside my mind, _No, no, no, I'm not evil. I won't kill her or hurt her. Not again, not ever again, I won't fail again._

Just then, Alaska began to cough and I saw her sit up.

"Why am I sitting in a bath tub with my clothes on and why am I completely soaked?" She looked up at me with questioning eyes. Then I saw her expression become filled with pain. "Oh my God," she said, tears in her eyes, "Apollo is dead, I'm so sorry."

I felt like I had been slapped in the face. Apollo was dead? She had to be joking. Apollo had been my first Pokemon, he had been with me since before Team Shadow. He had been my best friend. No, he _was_ my best friend. He wasn't dead. I fought back tears.

"Hermes, are you okay?"

"I...No." I felt my legs collapse under me. It might have seemed like an overreaction, but I had known my Salamence for fifteen years. I had gotten him when I was eight. He had been with me when my parents died, when I had joined Team Shadow, when I was changed into what I was now, the first time I had killed, the first time I had realized I could be changed back to normal...He had been there through everything and now he was dead? I had known something must have happened to him, but I hadn't imagined he was really hurt. I-

My thoughts were cut off when I felt hands wrap around me and pick me up off the ground. Was it Ares? No, Ares wasn't soaking wet. So that meant...I looked up to see Alaska...hugging me? Shit. I prepared for the wave of dark thoughts telling me to kill her, to rip her apart, even as she was gently holding me, but...they never came. Instead, I felt...warmth?

"I'm sorry," she said.

"So am I."

She wouldn't understand what I meant, but I knew it was a promise, not just to her, but to myself. I wouldn't let her get hurt. I would have to find a way to get rid of Isis, eliminate Team Shadow, and even more daunting, I would have to make myself safe again.

** Awwww...Did you guys enjoy that? Sorry it was short, but things have to keep moving on. I'm going to stick to Alaska's point of view most of the time, but that was just to explain Hermes to you. He's not really evil, it's more the Shadow part of him that causes him to hurt and kill people. What is the Shadow part of Shadow Humans and Pokemon? You'll find out later on. Don't worry, there will be more violence in the next chapter if you guys missed that, though I thought the break was nice. By the way, I could use some shipping names if you guys can help me come up with 'em. You know, like how JessieXJames is rocketshipping. Crap like that. Anyway, I'll try to make the next chapter longer and I'll explain how Alaska might be able to purify Hermes. ;) Hope you liked it. Feedback is good...**


	8. The Revenge Of Isis

I woke up in a bathtub. I coughed and looked up to see Hermes standing over me and Bluebelle floating behind him. I coughed. "Ugh. Why am I in a bathtub with my clothes on and why am I soaking wet?" I asked. Before he could answer, I remembered what had happened earlier. I felt my eyes fill with tears. "Oh my God, Hermes...Apollo is dead."

Hermes reeled back in shock. His violet eyes were glistening with tears that I could see he was fighting to hold back. He seemed to be having a hard time breathing. I couldn't imagine how hard it must be to lose a Pokemon. It would be like losing a child, a sibling, and a friend all at once.

"Hermes, are you okay?" I asked, feeling concerned.

"I...No," he stuttered and his legs gave out from underneath him. He collapsed to the ground. I quickly climbed out of the tub and picked him up off the floor. I held him for a minute and when I looked down at him, his face seemed to be a mixture of shock, sadness, and something else...I remembered that he didn't like being touched, but I didn't let go. Something told me not to.

"I'm sorry," I said, for Apollo's death as well as many other things.

"So am I."

I was about to respond when the most unlikely thing that could occur at that moment happened: Hermes wrapped his arms around me, hugging me. He let go after a few seconds, but I was still shocked. He had avoided touching me or anyone else for as long as I had known him, other than when he was pulling me around the first day we met. I looked at him and saw something in his hair.

"You have a feather in your hair," I told him and pulled it out. It was a white feather only a few inches long. It might have come from a Pidgey or some other common bird. I handed it to him.

Hermes laughed and took the feather. He looked at it for a moment before crushing it in his hand. "What happened to you?" he asked unexpectedly.

I hesitated, then told him about Maeve and my transformation.

Hermes sighed. "Time to leave town, then." I grabbed my bag and called Bluebelle back. Hermes recalled Ares and we left the motel. "Time for a new car. My turn to pick." He looked around the parking lot and found a beat up looking Dodge Neon. "I like cars that blend in," he explained before picking the lot and hot wiring the car. I climbed in the passenger door and looked at the setting sun. It might be a while before I could sleep again. Hermes and I groaned simultaneously as he drove out of the parking lot and instantly hit a wall of traffic. It took two hours just to get out of LA, and then there was hundreds of miles of desert to drive through. At around one in the morning, Hermes said, "You can sleep, you know. I'm used to being awake all night by myself."

"I know," I responded, "But if you want to know the truth, I'm afraid to sleep. Every time I do, some magical forest girl is talking to me or I find out that I'm supposed to be dead."

Hermes smiled, but the smile quickly faded. "If Apollo was still around, he could probably make sure no one was getting through to you in your sleep, but now...You should sleep anyway. You'll get sick if you don't get enough sleep."

"I'll try," I promised. Absentmindedly, I turned on the radio. The volume was turned down so that the music was little more than a whispered lullaby. The radio was set on another classic rock station. I reclined my seat and rested my head against the window. In the near silence of the car, the words of the song began to become audible.

_Lying beside you, here in the dark_

_Feeling your heart beat with mine_

_Softly you whisper, you're so sincere_

_How could our love be so blindingly_

The song was making me sleepy and I couldn't even make it to the chorus. I fell fast asleep. I woke up back in the odd green forest. This time, I was lying under an acacia tree, rather than an oak, though I was still barefoot.

"Fuuuu-" I started to groan, when I was interrupted.

"Hello!" I was face to face with a little girl. She looked at me with bright blue eyes and giggled.

"Let me take a wild guess," I said, "You know the green forest girl?"

"Who? Oh you mean-"

"Shush!" The green forest girl ran out of nowhere and covered the smaller girl's mouth. She smiled. "Welcome back, Wanderer."

"Ugh, hi. By the way, you wouldn't be known as Traveler by any chance, would you?"

The green forest girl winced. "So you've met Maeve."

"Yeah, that was a blast. Who's that?" I pointed to the younger girl with blue eyes and bubblegum pink hair. She was bouncing around the forest, occasionally disappearing in one spot and reappearing in another. Each time she reappeared, she was wearing a different outfit, though each one was pink.

"You can call her Dancer."

"Dancer?" I asked as the little girl in question hopped by me.

"You'll figure it out eventually. She's my..." the Traveler seemed to be searching for the right word, "...Cousin. In any case, I brought you here to see how your doing."

I raised an eyebrow incredulously. "You want to know how I'm doing?"

"Yes."

I took a deep breath. "In the last week, I have been kidnapped, shot, changed into a Pokemon, nearly raped and murdered, killed two people, watched several people being killed, had my brain taken over by the spirit of some crazy bitch I don't even know, and been told I died three years ago. So, I'll ask again, you want to know how I'm doing?"

"Er...When you put it that way..."

"The answer is 'fine'. Just to make things simple. I'm fine. Was there anything else or can I go back to sleep?"

The Traveler looked sheepish. "Actually, I wanted to make sure that you're aware that Isis can access your consciousness at any time, meaning she can communicate with you or try to fight for control of your mind at any moment, even when your asleep. Also, if you're killed, she can take full control of your body and pretend to be you."

"Things just can't be easy, can they?"

The Traveler placed a hand on my shoulder. "Things will get better, I promise."

I hung my head. "I know, I'm sorry I snapped. I'm usually not this...bitchy."

"Well, no one can blame you. You have an unusual life, and honestly, it's going to get much more bizarre, but I can't tell you that yet." I felt my eye twitch. "Have you guessed who I am yet? It will make things easier for you."

"No, I haven't guessed who you are yet." I sighed. "Can I please go back to earth or wherever?"

Suddenly, the Dancer bounced up in my face. "I know why you want to go back!" she shouted excitedly.

"Because I'd like to think that I'm not having a hallucination in a padded room right now?"

"No, it's because," she giggled conspiratorially, "You have a boyfriend!"

"WHAT!"

The Traveler winced. "Maybe you should go back now," she said, and the two girls began to fade away.

"No, wait! What in the hell are you talking about?" But they were already gone. Where was I now? I looked around and recognized the endless white expanse of my mind. Not good. I turned around and saw Isis. "What do you want?" I asked irritably.

She smiled, but it didn't reach her piercing violet eyes. "I'm here to show you something. I've watched you growing closer to Hermes over these last few days, and I want you to know the man that killed me." I opened my mouth to say something, but she stopped me. "No arguing. I could have saved any one of a thousand different people that day, but I picked you. You owe me."

"How could I be so lucky," I muttered under my breath, but Isis didn't hear me. She held out a hand and pressed it against my forehead. My eyes were forced closed by some unknown force and when they reopened, I found myself in a dark alley, a million miles away from where I had been. It was dark and I couldn't see much. I noticed two bodies lying motionless on the ground. I tried to look away, but found that I couldn't.

"You're seeing the memory from my point of view," Isis whispered in my ear, "You'll look where I looked and feel how I felt." I heard her but I couldn't see her.

I looked up without trying to and saw Hermes. His face was furious and his hands were clenched into fists at his side. I looked around quickly, but I was alone in the alley with him. He snarled menacingly, and I took a step back, only to find a brick wall. I shivered.

"Please," I said with Isis' voice, "I didn't mean to kill her. I didn't mean to, honestly, it was an accident."

Hermes smiled cruelly. "Then this will be an accident, too."

I screeched in terror as he sprang at me, knocking me to the ground. I tried to fight back against him, but he was so much stronger than I was. I tried to slap him away, but he grabbed my wrist tightly, and snapped it with a loud crack. I screamed in pain. He began to tear me apart. No guns or Pokemon were needed, just a knife and his bare hands. The pain was unbearable as my bones were broken and my flesh was ripped away. Finally, I felt the relief as the blade of the knife met my throat and my life began gushing away. I tried to say something, but I couldn't speak; my larynx had been destroyed. I tried to take a breath, but the blood in my lungs kept any air out. I slipped away as Hermes stood over me and removed his glasses so that he could look me directly in the eyes.

"Remember," he said, "You deserved it."

The memory ended and my eyes were once again forced closed before reopening in the white space of my mind. I could almost still feel the pain, the terrible burning as I was ripped apart.

"Do you understand why I hate him?" Isis asked as she appeared in front of me.

I shook my head in disbelief. "Why would he do that to you?"

Isis scowled. "Because he enjoys it. Every time he kills, it's the same. Don't forget what he did, Alaska." She began to fade away.

Before my eyes even opened, I could feel the movement of the car beneath me. After a moment of lying still, I finally opened my eyes. The sun was rising above the horizon. I could only have been asleep for five or six hours. I groaned and sat up.

"How did you sleep?" I looked up and saw Hermes' violet eyes. For a moment, I was paralyzed with fear. Those kind eyes had once been fierce and filled with blood lust. I flinched away unconsciously. "Are you okay, Alaska?" he asked.

"I-I'm fine," I stuttered. He looked at me nervously. I didn't know what to do. I was terrified of him and wanted to run, but something else told me to stay. Something deep inside of my heart held me to him, as if with chains. I couldn't run away anymore than I could travel through time. I had to stay, but that didn't mean I couldn't ask questions. "Hermes?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you kill Isis?"

His eyes glazed over with pain and he almost drove off the road. I shrieked and he snapped out of it.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I killed her, because...she killed Maylene. She killed the second one I traveled with."

"Oh." I felt terrible. Of course Isis had done something to be killed like that. I couldn't believe I had thought Hermes would do something like that for fun. Suddenly, I hissed without meaning to. Hermes looked at me in alarm. I tried to speak, but something was blocking my throat. I felt the change as Isis took control of my body. "Die!" she shouted using my voice. I jumped out of my seat and into Hermes. His elbow knocked the steering wheel sideways and the car went careening off the side of the road. Both Hermes and I screamed as the car began to roll. I was bumped around the inside of the car until I crashed through the windshield. I landed in the dust, covered in cuts and pieces of glass. Isis had retreated to the far corners of my mind once again, and I had regained control of myself. I groaned and stood up. I had luckily escaped the crash unhurt, other than some bruises and a few large cuts. I turned around to see the damage to the car and my heart stopped. It was completely destroyed. Hermes was nowhere in sight.


	9. The Good, the Bad, and the Aww

**Sorry my last author's note got cut off. For some reason, my word processor didn't save it. You guys are going to really love this chapter. A lot. I hope. I'm excited. Anyway, here's the responses to your comments from the last couple chapters:**

**Japaneserockergirl: Glad you don't think my action sucks. :) Hermes has been through hell and back, and he's about to make a return trip. Also, thanks for the shipping names. From now on, I declare that HermesXAlaska is hostageshipping and HermesXIsis (I didn't come up with that pairing, guys) is Shadowshipping.**

**VDAF: Yeah! A fourth reviewer! If you got teary eyed at that, holy shit are you going to have a tough time getting through this story. Also, I have a Typhlosion in HG, too. :) But I have a Feraligatr in SS. Yes, I bought both of them. :b**

**Ultima-owner: Your comments made me laugh. Those names have significance by the way. Believe me. If you haven't already figured out who they are by the end of this story, you're going to crap your pants.**

**Banjo2E: Yeah! You reviewed again. Maeve's not really special, she just has a sixth sense to make up for her eyes. Also, remember what she said about Alaska being special? Remember that. Lunar relationship? I think you might be off a little. Go back, and think green and pink. Green and pink. If you think about it long enough, you'll face fault and go "OH!" Don't spoil it for everybody else, though. ;)**

My mouth fell open in disbelief as I stared at the wreckage of our car. Pieces of it were spread out over an area of 100 yards. Finally, my shock dissolved into realization. "Oh shit! Shit. Hermes! Are you okay? Where are you?" There was no answer.

Cautiously, I started walking towards the biggest pile of rubble, where most of what had been a crappy Dodge Neon was. Suddenly, I tripped and fell flat on my face. I gasped in pain as my knees hit the metal door that was laying on the ground. I got back up, wincing, and continued limping towards the wreck. I flinched when I saw it up close. The roof of the car was crushed down and the windshield was shattered. Two of the doors were missing and all of the windows except for the left back one were smashed. There was no way a normal human could have survived the wreck. Thankfully, Hermes wasn't a normal human. I wanted to crawl into the car and look inside, but none of the openings were big enough for me to get through without being torn to pieces with glass. I walked around the demolished car in a circle, before I got an idea. I took a deep breath and concentrated on the image of a Pokemon I had seen on TV once. I vaguely remembered that it was called Nidoqueen and that it was able to pick up huge boulders. Surely, tearing the roof off of a car wouldn't be a problem. I felt the changes begin.

First, I began to shrink in size. This surprised me, as I had imagined the powerful Pokemon would be taller than me, but I hadn't gotten too much shorter before I felt the powerful muscles building beneath my skin. My arms thickened and both of my thumbs and little fingers disappeared. My remaining three fingers hardened into claws. My feet widened and I lost all but two of my toes on each foot. I felt my ears move to the top of my head and become huge. Tiny pinpricks on the top of my head told me I had sprouted horns. I felt a curious sensation as my hair and teeth were sucked into my head. I reached down to itch my changing body and saw that my skin was hardening and turning blue. Spikes grew down my back and a tail erupted from the base of my spine. The transformation was complete. I roared when I felt the power contained in every muscle of my body.

I leaped forward and ripped the roof off of the car. It groaned in protest as I pulled it back, almost like opening a can of Pokemon food for my Skitty. This would have been fun if Hermes' hadn't been in danger. I peered inside the car and felt my heart drop down to my stomach. Hermes was still sitting in the driver's seat, but his head was twisted unnaturally to the side. His nose was bleeding and he was covered in bruises and shards of glass. I didn't know whether to remove him or not, in case I injured him further, but as the sun rose and became burning hot in the sky, it made the decision for me. If I left Hermes there any longer, he would die. I ripped through the seat belt with my claws and discovered a problem. My stubby hands couldn't move in the right way to pick him up with out cutting him. I needed more flexible hands, but I still needed the strength of a Pokemon. Another nature show I had seen came back to me:

_Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokemon, is well known for looking incredibly human. People have become lost in the woods chasing them, believing they are women who need help. Gardevoir are one of the few Pokemon with hands as complex as a human's. They have amazing physical and mental strength, allowing them to move past almost any obstacle._

I would change into a Gardevoir then. I concentrated on the image of one and began to feel my Nidoqueen body melting away. My hard, scaly skin became light and silky. It looked and felt almost like fabric and it hung off of my body like a dress. My arms became thinner, though they retained their strength, and I reclaimed my missing fingers. However, unlike my human hands, these hands were much more delicate. I didn't have as mush strength in my hands, making it harder to curl my fingers around objects. My head changed to a vaguely human shape and I felt myself growing hair. My ears disappeared into my head and I lost my spikes. My legs lengthened and became human like, though I couldn't move them outside of the dress-like skin that covered most of my body. I looked down at my white and green body and saw that the transformation was complete.

Carefully, I reached into the car and lifted Hermes out. His head rolled back limply and I felt my heart ache. It seemed as though he had a broken neck. I cradled him in my arms as though he were a baby. With one hand, I curled my hand around his wrist, checking for a pulse. I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, I removed my now shaking hand. There was no pulse. I set him carefully on the ground and stood there. I stood completely still. A desert wind blew my dress against the legs hidden underneath and I shivered, breaking my trance. I quietly sat down next to his body and began to weep. I made no sound, Gardevoir were almost always silent, but tears rolled down my cheek and landed on him. I let myself be consumed by a wave of grief. From somewhere inside myself, I felt victory. Suddenly, my watery eyes became dry as I allowed my anger at Isis to build up. I let it build and build, until I could almost no longer control it. Then, I went into my mind. As soon as I felt myself inside the empty white space, I sensed Isis' presence.

"Come to beat me up?" she crowed, "Good luck. I finally did it, I killed-" She stopped as she noticed the look of fury in my eyes. "Um...Alaska?"

I screamed, an otherworldly sound, and released my anger. I felt a grim satisfaction at the fear in her eyes, before the invisible wave of anger struck. It acted like a shock wave, knocking her to the ground. Then came the aftershocks. I screeched in wild fury as the world of mind shook around me. I teleported myself next to her, as she lay on the ground, trying to catch her breath. I looked down at her and smiled. "If you thought what Hermes did to you was bad, you haven't seen anything yet."

"Please," she begged, almost exactly as she had in the memory, but I ignored her increasingly panicked pleas, "Please, no, please!"

My eyes glowed with energy, and using Psychic, I picked her up and threw her across this meeting room in my mind, and into one of its invisible walls. I heard a satisfying thud as she crashed into it. She quickly got to her feet and began backing away from me.

"Stop! No, no, no, get away from me!"

I got sick of her screaming and used Imprison, holding her silently in place as I approached her. She was paralyzed. She wouldn't put up a fight as I destroyed her. I decided the form of Gardevoir wasn't enough. I eagerly gave up my body for that of a dragon. I was about to give my mind over to the darkest parts of myself, so I wouldn't have to hear her screams. Then, I felt myself growing weaker. A look of triumph crossed Isis' face.

"Don't think this...is over...yet," I slurred and gave in to the sleep that was pulling me down.

"YOU SHALL NOT WIN THIS BATTLE TODAY," said a voice, the last thing I heard. I passed out.

I woke up in pain. What in the hell was happening? I tried to move my arm, but it felt very heavy. I couldn't move. It was like a bad dream. I couldn't open my eyes. I was tempted to go back to sleep, but I heard a voice that made it impossible. It was a soft voice, one that shouldn't exist anymore, but it was enough to make me open my heavy eyes.

"Alaska? Oh God, not again. Alaska?" called the voice. I looked up and thought I had gone back to sleep. Standing in front of me, was Hermes. I smiled. There was nothing wrong with him. No cuts from the glass, no bruises, no broken neck. He was perfect. "Alaska?" he asked, staring directly into my eyes, "You need to get up Alaska."

I started to sit up, though the effort it took was incredible. My body felt so heavy. "What happened?" I managed to say.

"You need to turn back to human, Alaska," I heard Hermes say worriedly. It took me a moment to understand his words.

"Human?" I looked down at myself and screamed, a horrible, mixed up sound. My body was not a body at all, it was a jumble of useless parts. My torso was that of the Garchomp I had tried to morph into, but I had Gardevoir arms and legs. I felt my head and realized it was a mixture of both Gardevoir and Garchomp. I vomited onto the dusty ground.

"Alaska, focus on being human!"

Human. I resisted the urge to throw up again and concentrated. I thought about myself. Thought about how I looked like, my feelings, my hopes, my dreams. I felt the changes begin. Just like the last two times I had regained my human shape, it felt as though the Pokemon parts were melting away. Slowly, my human form emerged from the monstrous combination of Pokemon that I had been. I nearly fainted again, this time in relief, when Hermes grabbed me and pulled me close to him. I felt something like an electrical shock where our bodies touched. I shivered. Then I remembered that he had been dead. I started crying again.

"You were dead, Hermes. I saw you." I let out a muffled sob.

Hermes smiled. "You were in Gardevoir form when you found me dead, weren't you?"

I nodded, too emotional to speak.

"Gardevoir know a move called Healing Wish. It completely heals the Pokemon or human it's used on, but it causes the user to faint. I think that's what you did."

"But you didn't heal right away. I went into my mind to fight Isis and you were still dead."

"Healing Wish doesn't activate until the user switches out of battle."

"So, when I retreated into my mind...Oh my God, I just thought of something," I yelped.

"What?"

"What in the hell happened to Isis?" I quickly withdrew into my mind. I wasn't worried about Isis, but I wanted to make sure she was dead, if that's what had happened. "Isis?" I called. I didn't see her, but I heard a faint hiss.

"Stay away," she said and hissed again. "I'll get you back."

Without bothering to check on her any further, I pulled myself back to the real world. "She's still alive, unfortunately," I told Hermes.

He frowned. "She's getting pretty dangerous. Both of us could have been killed. We'll have to figure out a way to get rid of her soon."

"Yeah...How are we going to get to Dallas now?"

"Well, I can fly on Ares, but now that Apollo's...gone, there's no Pokemon to carry you. I don't think Bluebelle can fly long distances, can she?"

I shook my head and thought for a moment. "I could turn into a flying Pokemon."

"Yes, I thought of that, but I was afraid you might be too upset to morph again."

"No, I think I'll be fine..." Honestly, my stomach was churning, but as long as I didn't try to change into another Pokemon while I was already a Pokemon, I wouldn't get stuck like that again. I looked at the sky. The sun was getting lower. I wondered how long I had been passed out.

"We should probably go, if we're going to get to a town tonight," Hermes said.

"Yeah."

Suddenly, he seemed to realize his arms were still wrapped around me. He pulled away from me and I felt...disappointed. To hide the awkwardness of the moment, I started morphing. This time, the first thing to change was my hair. It turned red and yellow and divided into several feathers. More feathers grew all over my body, those these were white and brown. My arms flattened into wings and my nose and mouth grew together, forming a beak. My legs were sucked up into my body and my toes grew out from my feet before curling up and becoming claws. I felt a patch of red feathers erupt from my back, turning into a tail. I had changed into a Pidgeot.

Hermes reached into his pocket, pulled out a Pokeball, and summoned Ares. The Charizard roared when he saw me and looked confused.

"Your a Pokemon, but not a Pokemon," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Sherlock. It's me, Alaska."

He scratched his head and looked confused. I had to resist making another smart ass comment.

"Ready to go?" Hermes asked.

I nodded. Hermes jumped on Ares' back and we took off. I spread my wings wide and felt the wind lift me up into the sky. I chirped happily. I flew through the sky, a goddess high above the ground. I had never felt so powerful, not as any other Pokemon, and certainly not as a human. My powerful beak and talons were made for ripping and tearing. My wings could break bones. I could fly faster than an airplane. I loved the freedom of the sky.

"We're going to Phoenix," Hermes shouted to me, "Follow Ares, he knows where to go."

I nodded again and flew up and around the orange dragon. Hermes laughed as I flew by upside down. Flying, we managed to make it to Phoenix by five o'clock that evening. Much quicker than we could have gotten there by car.

"Land in that alley," Hermes called to me and pointed to the dark space next to a shady looking motel. We were now much closer to the ground, only ten or twenty feet above the tops of buildings. Luckily, Ares and I could fly so quietly no one on the ground could hear us. I landed on top of a dumpster and immediately began to return to my human form. I noticed that it seemed to not take as long to demorph this time around. Maybe I was getting better at it. I jumped off the dumpster as Hermes recalled Ares.

Hermes sighed. "I'm so tired. Let's go check in."

I nodded. "I feel like I could sleep for a week."

We checked into the room and immediately dropped down on the beds.

"You know," Hermes said, his voice muffled by the pillow his head was face down in, "All of our supplies were destroyed. We'll have to go to the store tomorrow."

I groaned. "I don't want to move for at least a week."

Hermes smiled and got up. "You're going to be unhappy tomorrow then. Actually, you should probably get up now and let your Pokemon out." As he said this, he released all of his Pokemon except for Zeus. Ares, Demeter, Poseidon, and Hades. The bigger Pokemon settled onto the floor and Hades leaped onto Hermes' bed. The space in the middle of Ares, Demeter, and Poseidon where Apollo should have been was empty. It made my heart ache. I wanted to release my Pokemon, but didn't feel like moving.

"Do you want to release my Pokemon?" I asked Hermes hopefully.

He smiled. "Don't get lazy on me."

I stuck out my tongue and stood up. The room was small and when I got up off the bed, I was standing right next to him. I release my Pokemon, who spread out across the room. Bandit chewed on my ankle affectionately before crawling onto my bed and falling asleep. I heard Hermes sigh and turned around.

"Alaska," he said suddenly, "What happens if one of us dies?"

I shrugged, unwilling to think about that possibility. "I don't know." My heart felt like it was breaking at the thought. I didn't want to lose my friend, even though we had only known each other for a week.

"I want you to know, if something happens, that I-" his voice broke off and he blushed. I stared at him, not used to seeing him look so uncomfortable. "I think that, maybe I...er..." He blushed harder and something snapped in my brain.

"Oh. I think I feel...the same way." I smiled.

Hermes looked relieved and pulled me close to him as he had done earlier that day. This time it didn't feel awkward. I felt sparks shooting through our skin, the electrical current connecting us. I leaned further into him and our cheeks brushed. Now it was my turn to blush.

"I love you," he said effortlessly this time.

"I love you, too." The words seemed to have some effect, as if a deal had been made. I felt as though the connection we had was now solidified. As if we had a magnetic pull on each other, we both leaned forward again and our lips met. My heart nearly beat out of my chest as we kissed.

**Awwww...I'm so friggin' happy. I've been waiting for that a couple weeks. Are you guys happy yet? Sorry there wasn't much action. You'll get more next chapter, I think. I have a big surprise for when they get to New Mexico. *maniacal laughter***


	10. One Bad Night

**Alright, I lied. It's ready now. By the way, I'm sorry there hasn't been much action in the last few chapters, they've been setting up the plot. I promise, promise, promise that next chapter there will be more action. Also, sorry Alaska and Hermes don't have a lot of chemistry. I'll try to work on that.**

**Ultima-owner: Indeed.**

**Far Out There: I can't guarantee there will be a Pokemon battle next chapter, though I can guarantee there will be more action. I promise there will be a battle when they hit Dallas, though.**

**Banjo2E: Isis survived getting beat up, because she didn't really get beat up. I mean, Alaska threw her into a wall and use Imprison. She didn't have time to beat her up any more than that, because she fainted due to Healing Wish. Also, the reason Healing Wish worked, is that Hermes wasn't quite dead, though he was very close. She couldn't feel his pulse, because her hands as a Gardevoir weren't as strong as human hands, so she couldn't squeeze his wrist tight enough. If he was dead, there wouldn't be jack shit she could do about it. I know you didn't ask about that, but I thought I should explain it, and it felt like I would be able to here.**

**Japaneserockergirl: Yeah, the mood is really sucking, isn't it? I've been writing this for a few weeks, so even when I'm not actually writing, I'm brain storming. So I imagine all these scenes of them kissing or hugging or shooting people or...other things. Even though most of those scenes don't make it into the story, I still have all of these images, and they contribute to the relationship, so a lot of times, I feel like they've known each other longer than they actually have in the story. It's hard to explain. Anyway, yeah, I'll try harder to set the mood, though the next few chapters will be going back to action.**

Hermes POV

We broke away from each other and looked away, both of us a little embarrassed. I wrapped my hand around hers and started to speak. "Alaska, I-" Suddenly, the monster inside of me roared and started to scream. _Kill now, kill, rip and tear, destroy, kill her._ It was so strong I could barely control myself.

"Hermes?" Alaska asked with concern.

"Get away from me!" I yelled, sensing the danger she was in, "Run!"

She retreated to the other side of the room, but didn't leave. I began to shake uncontrollably with the effort of keeping the monster in his cage. Finally, I managed to defeat the beast, at least for a while. I collapsed to the floor, panting.

"Hermes?" She approached me cautiously.

"I'm okay now, I think. It's safe." I struggled to my feet. I felt as if I had just ran a marathon. My muscles ached and I couldn't catch my breath. I had no choice anymore, I couldn't give in and kill her. I couldn't give up that easily. I had to protect her. I checked myself mentally and was satisfied that the monster couldn't rise again. I pulled Alaska close to me, though I was more careful this time. I made sure that there was at least some space between us, enough room to escape. "I'm so sorry," I told her.

"It's okay," she responded, "It's no worse than Isis trying to use me to kill you."

I laughed bitterly. "We're perfect matches. Both of us are constantly trying to keep from killing the other."

"That's not funny." She glared at me, but I saw that her lips were turned upwards in a smile.

I released her and collapsed onto my bed. I was exhausted. I could tell she was too. "We both need to sleep," I said.

She nodded and curled up next to her Zigzagoon, Bandit. "Good night, Hermes." She yawned and fell asleep almost instantly.

"Good night, Alaska," I murmured. I closed my eyes and wished I could sleep for more than an hour.

I opened my eyes and found myself in a cave covered in multicolored crystals. I groaned. I had been to this cave before. "Where are you, Giver?" I called, looking for the guardian that usually greeted me.

"Right here!" said a voice from behind me.

I jumped in surprise and growled when the younger boy started laughing. I turned around to look at the Giver. He looked several years younger than me, though I knew he was much older, and he was wearing white and blue striped shorts and a yellow t-shirt. He had silver hair. "What have you called me here for Giver?"

He smiled. "I wanted to ask you if you could stop in Roswell before you head to Dallas."

I frowned. "Roswell? Why?"

The Giver giggled. "So I can meet your _girlfriend_."

I groaned. "You're as bad as Dancer."

"I do my best," he said and his face became serious. "She doesn't know about me yet, right?"

"No. I haven't told her about you."

"That's good." The Giver sighed. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but...I think the Warrior wants to meet her too."

I growled. "The Warrior? What does he want with her?"

The Giver shrugged. "I don't know, but he wants to talk to her and he can't travel through dreams like us. He's trapped on Earth for the rest of his mortal life span."

I gritted my teeth. Nothing would stop the Guardians if they wanted to do something. "Can I at least be there while they're talking?"

The Giver looked away. " I doubt it..."

"Fine. Was that all you needed to tell me?"

The Giver nodded. "You won't have any more trouble from Team Shadow until New Orleans."

"Great. Bye, then."

"Bye!" The Giver waved at me enthusiastically as he faded away.

I sighed as I was brought back to the waking world. The Guardians were starting to really piss me off. I looked at the clock on the nightstand by my bed. It flashed 1:07 AM. I must have over slept by about half an hour. I got up and stretched. Alaska was sleeping peacefully on her bed, her Pokemon laying next to her protectively. She would be okay.

"Ares," I whispered. My Charizard stirred in the dark and I saw his huge shape rising above the other shadowy figures on the floor. I opened the window. Luckily, it was big. "Come on, Ares."

The dragon wagged his tail excitedly, nearly breaking a lamp, before making his way over to me. I hopped on his back and we flew into the night sky. We were careful to stay high enough above the ground to avoid suspicion, but I got tired of that quickly. What else was there to do n Phoenix? It dawned on me that Alaska hadn't eaten sense LA, so we flew to a Burger King and picked up some food. It was odd going into a restaurant and knowing I couldn't eat any of the food there. The people inside matched the weirdness of the situation. I saw a grown man walk by in a Pikachu costume. Ares and I returned to the motel with the food, where I left it before flying off again. I didn't need to eat, so there was no reason to hunt. I didn't need to sleep, so I couldn't go back to the motel. There was nothing for me to do. I sighed. As a human, I never realized how much useless time sleeping took up. Maybe I could stop at a book store later. There wouldn't be one open now. After another hour drifting around the city, I returned to the hotel. It was still only three in the morning. Ares went off to sleep and I turned the TV on with the volume down. However, I didn't concentrate on it. Instead, I made my way over to Alaska.

I sat down on the edge of her bed and watched her twitch quietly in her sleep. Maybe she was having another dream. Hopefully, it was just one of her Guardians harassing her and not Isis. I couldn't help feeling pained that she was infected with a monster, just like me. I gently touched her cheek, then recoiled when I remembered how badly I could hurt her. I sat there for a while, when suddenly, she woke up.

"You're up early," I started to say, when she tackled me. Fearing that Isis had control of her, I rolled out from under her and backed away. I got halfway across the room before I noticed she wasn't coming after me. I went back to her and picked her up off the floor. I looked into her tear-filled eyes and sighed in relief when I saw they weren't violet. I stroked her hair, and asked her, "What's wrong?"

"I can't tell you," she sobbed. "They told me I couldn't tell you."

I growled under my breath, assuming that 'they' referred to the Traveler and the Dancer. Just to be cautious, I asked, "Was it those people you keep seeing in you dreams?"

She nodded, then seemed to collapse into tears. I reminded myself to strangle the Giver the next time I saw him. I saw a furry, brown shape out of the corner of my eye. Bandit jumped up onto Alaska's lap and sat there for a moment, before pressing his tiny black nose to her cheek. She reached over and stroked his fur. She stopped sobbing, but tears were still running down her cheeks. Finally, she fell back asleep. I sighed and picked both her and Bandit up, and set them gently on the bed. I spent the rest of the night watching Wheel of Fortune with the volume off and wondering what in the hell Alaska's Guardians had told her. Most of all, I wondered why she couldn't tell me.

**That dream is important, guys, so keep that in mind. ;)**


	11. The Desert Warrior Part 1

**ALRIGHT, WE'VE REACHED CHAPTER NUMBER 10! I don't count the soundtrack as a chapter, so this is the 10****th**** one! Yippee-ki-yay Mofos. To answer your questions and concerns from last time:**

**Ultima-owner: They aren't spirits exactly...you might notice this story is called The Guardian of Voyagers...That might come into play soon, though I'm not sure. So far, a grand total of one person has figured out the secret of The Guardians or at least, one of them. I won't tell you who, so people don't spam them. If you think you know, don't wreck it for everybody else. ;) You can PM me though, and I'll tell you whether you're right or wrong.**

**Japaneserockergirl: The Guardians have no particular connection to Shadow Humans or Pokemon, they have connections to people that are special. Remember what Maeve said about her and Alaska having great destinies and being special and what not? She was right. Hermes is also among that group. People that are that kind of special, have Guardians. They normally have one in particular that watches over them, but any Guardian can visit any one of the special people or Pokemon if they want to. One Guardian (The Warrior) is confined to earth, for reasons you'll find out later. There is a fixed number of Guardians and special people, and the only Guardians that don't have special people they watch over are The Warrior and one who hasn't been introduced yet. The Dancer is somebody's Guardian, but she visited Alaska, because, well, because she felt like it. There are thirty five special people, and thirty seven Guardians. Also, Guardians aren't, and never have been, humans. They can take the form of humans, but they aren't humans. They can take just about any form they want actually. :) Hope that clears things up. Oh, and Maeve has a Guardian, but they aren't important. Maybe you'll meet her Guardian at the end of the story if you're lucky. ;)**

** By the way, I looked at the lyrics to the song Animals by Neon Trees and got really excited. The lyrics fit in with this story really well. It might be rather literal, but well...Just look up the lyrics, you'll see what I mean. ;) My favorite part? "I won't be denied by you, the animal inside of you."**

I woke up and felt tears come to my eyes, the burden of consciousness weighing down on me. I looked around for Hermes, but didn't see him. I felt relief when I saw the bathroom light on. He was still alive. I wouldn't have to see him like I had in my dream for a while at least. I tried not to picture the cold, lifeless body the Traveler had shown me, but it was no use. That image would haunt me forever. I got out of bed and heard Bandit whine as I moved more than a few inches away from him. I smiled and let my hand trail through his scruffy, brown and cream fur.. It was comforting, like a child holding a safety blanket. It helped me recover myself. I noticed a fast food bag on the bedside table next to me and investigated it. I realized I was starving and scarfed down everything in the bag before putting out Pokemon food for Bluebelle, Hestia, Bandit, and Daffodil. Watching my Pokemon greet me before attending to their food, I felt guilty. I hadn't spent much time with any of them in the last week.

"Okay, guys. I don't know you very well, but I'll change that. It's only a matter of time before one of us gets killed and I'd like to know you before that happens." Only Bandit and Hestia seemed to be paying me any attention. Bluebelle and Daffodil continued to eat noisily. I sighed as the bathroom door opened.

"Good morning, Alaska."

I turned my head, cautiously trying to keep my emotions in check. I felt a lump in my throat. "Hi," I said, trying to make my voice emotionless, though it didn't work.

Hermes frowned. "Are you going to tell me what you saw in your dream last night?"

I turned my head away guiltily. Even if I was allowed to tell him, how could I look him in the eyes and tell him he was going to die. Not in two hundred years or whatever, but soon, possibly within days. "I can't," I mumbled.

He sighed. "It's okay if you can't tell me. Let's just go, okay?"

I nodded weakly, feeling a bit sick. I called my Pokemon back and followed Hermes out of the motel, not paying attention to my surroundings, only aware of the pain, guilt, and fear tearing me apart inside.

"Pick a car, any car," Hermes said, startling me out of my silence.

"Er..." I looked around and spotted a red SUV. "How about that?" I asked.

I saw Hermes roll his eyes, but he was smiling. "Do you have any skill at picking cars, Soccer Mom?"

I grinned back, but I could tell it wasn't reaching my eyes. "You're talking to me about picking crappy cars? Who got a _Dodge Neon_ yesterday? Anyway, I wanted a big car so we could let our Pokemon out."

Hermes winked at me. "Ouch, you've stabbed me with your comebacks of doom. Also, that's a great idea. I don't think Zeus has seen the light of day in a week." He quickly busted the locks on the SUV and hot wired it. We both climbed in and slammed the doors shut.

"Wow," I said, "It's nice to be able to leave a place without having to run like hell."

Hermes laughed. The sound made me both happy and immeasurably sad at the same time. I felt like I was floating in the ocean during a storm. I could breathe just enough to stay alive, but the waves kept pushing me under, forcing me to except the truth: Death was quickly approaching. "Ready to let the Pokemon out?" Hermes asked.

"Sure." I pulled out my Pokeballs and pressed the buttons on each of them, allowing Hestia, Bandit, Bluebelle, and Daffodil to appear in a flash of red light. They looked slightly confused. "Alright, Bandit's up here with me, the rest of you, find a seat and buckle up. Everybody wears seat belts while Hermes is driving." Despite what I said, only Daffodil and Hestia found a seat. Bluebelle decided she was more comfortable laying on the floor. Bandit curled up on my lap.

"Go, Zeus, Ares, Demeter, Poseidon, and Hades!" Hermes' Pokemon popped out, already in their places. Hades jumped on Hermes' lap, while Poseidon and Zeus climbed in the last row of seats. Ares managed to wedge himself in the middle row of seats between Hestia and Daffodil. Demeter laid next to Bluebelle.

"Everybody comfortable?" Various roars, barks, and screeches came from all over the car. "I'll take that as a 'yes'. Let's go, Hermes."

The car seemed to jump to life and Hermes took off across the parking lot, accidentally winding up in the wrong lane of traffic before correcting himself. I clutched Bandit to my chest tightly, but Hades seemed to have learned how to brace himself during a hectic car ride. He stuck his head out the window and panted happily. Eventually, I loosened my grip on Bandit and let him run back and forth through the car. Occasionally, a scuffle would break out among the Pokemon and Hermes would yell, "I swear to God, I will turn this car around!" making us all laugh.

For a while, I forgot about my dream and just enjoyed the presence of my Pokemon and my new best friend. It was still confusing to me. Why did I care so much for someone I had only known for a week? Why did I care this much for someone who was constantly putting me in danger? Sure, he was sweet in his own way, but this was more than simple affection. I felt a pull in my heart, like the needle of a compass pointing north, but instead of any one direction, it constantly pointed towards him. Where would my heart point when he died? As the day went on, I moodily stared out at the unchanging scenery of the desert. This part of the country seemed to be little more than a barren plain, broken only by rocky outcroppings. I saw a few Sandshrew and a Cacnea, but other than that, nothing seemed to be alive out there. Sometime around two o'clock, I fell asleep.

I opened my eyes and found myself in the now familiar forest. However, instead of being surrounded by trees, I was now surrounded by twenty foot tall cacti. The ground was still carpeted with grass and everything looked moist, causing the cacti to look ludicrously out of place.

"Where are you, Traveler?" I asked impatiently. "Are you going to make my life more difficult or can I go back to the car now?"

I heard what sounded like a far away giggle. I growled and headed in the direction it had seemed to come from. I walked for a while, but it didn't seem like I had gotten anywhere. The cacti around me looked the same as where I had come from.

"This isn't funny!" I yelled to no one.

I heard laughter again, though it seemed a little closer this time. I started running in the direction it came from. After a few minutes, I stopped, feeling winded. I looked up and saw a mountain rising above the cactus forest. Where the hell had that come from? I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I headed for the mountain. I walked for what felt like hours through the hot, dry, forest, before I actually seemed to make any progress. Eventually, I reached the edge of the giant cacti and found myself in front of the biggest mountain I had ever seen. It seemed to rise out of the middle of nowhere. There were no other mountains in sight. It seemed to rise forever into the deep blue sky. I stood at the base of the mountain and looked around.

"What am I supposed to do now?" I said aloud.

I heard more giggling. This time it sounded as though it was coming from right next to me. I jumped around and found myself face to face with a hole in the side of the mountain. Laughter rang from deep inside it. I shrugged and crawled into it. Immediately, I was in a huge chamber. Glittering crystals of every color covered the walls around me. They seemed to glow in the blackness of the cave. In front of me, was a boy who looked about twelve, wearing blue and white striped shorts and a yellow t-shirt. Upon closer inspection, I noticed his silver hair was putting off as much light as the crystals. I stared at him. "Who are you?"

He giggled quietly. "I'm the Giver."

"Oh, great," I said sarcastically, "You guys are always so much fun."

The Giver winked at me. "Indeed we are. It's nice to meet Traveler's youngling."

"Her what?"

He smiled kindly. Something about his eyes and his smile made me feel as though he were much older than how he appeared now. "Youngling. It's the word for those us Guardians watch over. Anyway, it's nice to meet you. I see you've met my youngling, as well."

I felt confused. "Who?"

"My youngling. Hermes. He cares quite deeply for you, though he's known you only a short time."

"Hermes has a Guardian?"

The Giver nodded. "Of course."

"But...you know that..." I didn't know how to tell him that Hermes was going to die.

The strange silver-haired boy looked at me with sad eyes. His eyes seemed to draw me in. They were a deep amber color. When I finally looked away, my mouth fell open in shock. The young boy was now an old man, wearing what looked like a yellow, blue, and white kimono, instead of his shorts and t-shirt. "I know he is going to die." The Giver's voice wobbled. "It's hard for me to watch him, to talk to him, to take car of him, when I know his fate. All humans die eventually, but he is so young, and it will happen so soon...I asked Hermes to bring you to Roswell before you moved on to Dallas so that I could speak with you. This is one of the only places I can speak to you, as I am linked to the stars in the same way that the Traveler is linked to her forests. Roswell is connected to the stars as much as any place on Earth can be. It is the only place where I have enough strength to reach you."

"Why would you want to talk to me?" I felt touched by the Giver. I understood how he felt...to watch death approaching someone you cared about...to have to walk with them, talk to them, hold them, knowing that they were moving ever closer to their end.

"I wanted to talk to you," the Giver responded, "Because I knew that it would comfort you to know that someone was watching out for Hermes. I also needed to warn you that you must talk with the Warrior when you reach Roswell."

"The Warrior? Is he another Guardian?"

The Giver seemed to think before responding. "He is one of us, though he has no youngling. He is still attached to your world. He cannot travel through dreams and he cannot take the form of a human like we can. He will meet you while Hermes goes to hunt. You must speak with him alone. He is dangerous, though he means well, and he wants to help you on your journey. Be careful. The Warrior doesn't want to hurt you, but he has poor self control...If anything happens to you, Hermes is going to be deeply hurt...Just take care of yourself, Wanderer." He began to fade.

"How will I know what The Warrior looks like?" I yelled to him.

The Giver simply smiled and held a finger to his lips.

My eyes opened. I relaxed when I realized I was back in the car. I stretched and looked out the window. The sun had set, but the sky was still a foggy blue, as night hadn't set in yet. Far in the distance, I saw lights.

"Are you awake?" Hermes asked. "You've been asleep a while."

Instead of answering his question, I said, "I met the Giver."

Hermes shrugged. "He told me that he wanted to meet you. Did he tell you about the Warrior?"

"Yeah. He told me to be careful around him."

"Good advice," Hermes said.

I sighed. "Why didn't you tell me you had a Guardian?"

"He told me not to tell you." I face palmed and Hermes smiled. "Annoying, aren't they?"

"Ugh, tell me about it."

"Have you figures out their secret," he asked curiously.

"What!"

"Their secret. Their true identities. You haven't guessed yet?"

I felt like screaming. Instead, I focused on the lights of the city growing closer with every minute. I silently counted to ten and said, "No, I haven't."

"You're going to be in for a big surprise when you meet the Warrior."

"Yippie."

We spent the next five minutes in silence. That's when my mind was invaded.

**Okay, I know I promised you guys action, but it's been taking me a long time to write this and this part ended up being longer than I thought it would be. So, let's say this chapter is two parts and this is the first one.**


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